Biomembrane characteristics in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP).

Biomembrane characteristics in stroke-prone SHR (SHRSP) and stroke-resistant SHR (SHRSR) were examined using erythrocytes as a simplified model. When erythrocytes were exposed to osmotic stress in the process of the migration from a higher to a lower osmotic gradient by the coil planet centrifugation, erythrocytes from SHRSP were hemolyzed at a higher osmotic pressure than those from SHRSR. Such a difference in biomembrane characteristics may be useful for detecting a genetic disposition of stroke.