The 5-HT2B/2C receptor antagonist SB 206553 exerts anxiolytic effects in rat models of anxiety. However, these effects have been reported for standard rat strains, thus raising the issue of SB 206553 effects in rat strains displaying different levels of anxiety. Herein, the effects of SB 206553 in a 5-min elevated plus-maze test of anxiety were compared to those of the reference anxiolytic, dia...

The Lewis rat, an inbred rat strain susceptible to several well-characterized experimental autoimmune diseases, provides a good model to study peptide-mediated immunotherapy. Peptide immunotherapy focussing on the modulation of T cell responses by interfering with TCR-peptide-MHC complex formation requires the elucidation of the molecular basis of TCR-peptide-MHC interactions for an efficient d...

We established a new congenic model of hypertension, the mRen(2). Lewis rat and assessed the intracellular expression of angiotensin peptides and receptors in the kidney. The congenic strain was established from the backcross of the (mRen2)27 transgenic rat that expresses the mouse renin 2 gene onto the Lewis strain. The 20-wk-old male congenic rats were markedly hypertensive compared with the ...

Renal tissue oxygen tension (PO2) and its determinants have not been quantified in polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Therefore, we measured kidney tissue PO2 in the Lewis rat model of PKD (LPK) and in Lewis control rats. We also determined the relative contributions of altered renal oxygen delivery and consumption to renal tissue hypoxia in LPK rats. PO2 of the superficial cortex of 11- to 13-wk...

Ow CP, Abdelkader A, Hilliard LM, Phillips JK, Evans RG. Determinants of renal tissue hypoxia in a rat model of polycystic kidney disease. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 307: R1207–R1215, 2014. First published September 10, 2014; doi:10.1152/ajpregu.00202.2014.—Renal tissue oxygen tension (PO2) and its determinants have not been quantified in polycystic kidney disease (PKD). Therefore, ...

Several indices of sexual behavior were characterized for male rats of the Lewis (LEW), Sprague-Dawley (SD) and Fischer (F344) strains. Males were permitted access to a receptive female of their own strain for five 50-min sessions every fifth day. LEW males emitted longer latencies (first mount, intromission, ejaculation and post-ejaculatory interval) and lower frequencies (mounts, intromission...

The current study was designed to determine whether the nonspecific in vivo airway hyperresponsiveness of the inbred Fisher F-344 rat strain is associated with impaired spontaneous relaxation of airway smooth muscle. Strips of the posterior portion of the trachea from 10 adult Fisher and 10 adult Lewis rats were electrically stimulated at pH 7.4, 2.5 mM Ca(2+)concentration, at 37 degrees C. Bot...

Interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP), a glycoprotein specific for the retina and pineal gland, induces inflammatory changes in these two organs in immunized animals. We report here on the identification of an immunodominant determinant of bovine IRBP that is highly immunogenic and immunopathogenic in the Lewis rat. The peptide, which comprises the sequence 1169-1191 of bovine IRBP...

PURPOSE To characterize the fate of Lewis rat corneas transplanted to Hartley guinea pigs. METHODS Full-thickness Lewis rat corneal buttons were grafted orthotopically to Hartley guinea pigs (xenografts), ACI rats (allografts), or Lewis rats (isografts). Two panels of recipients were presensitized with xenogeneic skin grafts or allogeneic skin grafts. Serum samples were collected pre- and pos...

Crohn disease is immunologically mediated and characterized by intestinal and systemic chronic inflammation. In a rat model, injection of peptidoglycan-polysaccharide complexes into the intestinal wall induced chronic inflammation in Lewis but neither Fischer nor Buffalo rats, indicating a differential genetic susceptibility. Proteolysis of plasma high molecular weight kininogen (HK) yielding b...