Strain differences in the radiation response of the rat heart.

Recent reports on radiation-induced heart disease in Wistar rats by ourselves and in Sprague-Dawley rats by Yeung and Hopewell indicate significant differences in response. Irradiation of Sprague-Dawley rats under exactly the same conditions as those for Wistar rats has shown that there is a strain dependence for latency and clinical course of the induced heart disease, but that its incidence changes similarly with dose in the two strains.