EFFECTS OF DWELLING CONDITIONS ON CARDIOVASCULAR PARAMETERS IN SPONTANEOUSLY HYPERTENSIVE RATS

1 Living conditions are an important environmental factor for laboratory animals. We studied the effects of different living conditions on the cardiovascular parameters in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). 2 In both the light and the dark phase, the heart rate of rats kept in a wire‐mesh cage was significantly greater than the heart rate of rats kept under the other living conditions (with wood‐shaving bedding material in a plastic cage, with cloth bedding material in a plastic cage and with cloth bedding material in a wire‐mesh cage, P < 0.01 by the paired t‐test). 3 Systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure of rats kept in a wire‐mesh cage in the light phase was significantly higher than the heart rates of rats kept under the other living conditions (with wood‐shaving bedding materials in a plastic cage, with cloth bedding materials in a plastic cage, P < 0.01 by the paired t‐test). 4 Based on these results, we concluded that the living conditions had a substantial influence on the cardiovascular parameters in SHR.