WF

Inbr.F?+58 (Pit).

Colour: Albino,

Genet. c.

Origin: J Furth 1945 from a commercial Wistar stock in an attempt to develop a high leukaemia rat strain. Strain carries a distinctive heteropycnotic Y chromosome which may be used as a cellular marker (Zieverink and Moloney 1965). A substrain carrying the "fuzzy" mutation, which arose spontaneously in WF has been used in research on dermal toxicity, and is described in more detail by Marit et al, (1995).

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Characteristics

Lifespan and spontaneous disease

Carcinoma of the colon found in 8/21 males and 8/29 females (Miyamoto and Takizawa 1975). In females tumours include 27% pituitary, 21% mammary, 3% adrenal, 9% leukaemia (generalised), 7% lymphoma (malignant), 3% lipomas and 4% unclassified (Kim et al 1960). Mean life span 21 months in females and 23 months in males. Leukaemia 15-22% characterised by an unusual type of mononuclear cell containing reddish granules. Incidence of spontaneous pituitary tumours 38% in rats older than 10 months of age, increasing to a maximum of 69% at 28-32 months of age. Higher incidence in females (71%) than in males (35%) (Trouillas et al 1982). WF rats develop retinal dystrophy from about 3-months of age which resembles that found in RCS rats, but with a later onset. By about 7 months all rats are affected (Lin and Essner 1988). Have an hereditary macrothromobcytopenia, with about 1/3rd. the normal number of platelets, which are larger than normal. The condition appears to be inherited as a recessive Mendelian character (Jackson et al 1986).

Drugs and Chemicals

Administration of 3-methylcholanthrene to young increased, but X-rays decreased leukaemia (Moloney et al 1969). Highly susceptibly to the induction of mammary cancer following exposure to dust of 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)-anthracene powder applied directly to exposed mammary tissue, in contrast with COP (Takahashi et al, 1992). Resistant (7/7) to the induction of squamous cell carcinomas of the tongue by 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide (contrast DA) (Kitano et al, 1992). Sensitive to the convulsive effects of kainic acid (1/4) (Golden et al, 1995)

Physiology and Biochemistry

Low serum growth hormone (5/5) (Esber et al 1974). Low blood pressure (20/23), reaching 123_1.3 (SEM) mmHg at 10 weeks of age (Tanase et al 1982). Resistant to adrenal regeneration hypertension (Molteni et al 1975).

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Immunology

Low antibody response to streptococcal group A carbohydrate; not linked to the MHC (Stankus and Leslie 1976). Resistant to the development of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (1/9) (Biesecker and Koffler 1988). Grafts of aorta from DA develop chronic arteriosclerotic changes in the vascular wall, after a short spontaneously reversible acute rejection period, which resemble those observed in human allografts during chronic rejection (Mennander et al, 1992)

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Biesecker G. and Koffler D. (1988) Resistance to experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis in genetically inbred rats. J. Immunol. 140, 3406-3410.

Esber H. J., Menninger F. F. Jr., and Bogden A. E. (1974) Variation in serum hormone concentrations in different rat strains. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 146, 1050-1053.

Golden G. T., Smith G. G., Ferraro T. N., and Reyes P. F. (1995) Rat strain and age-differences in kainic acid-induced seizures. Epilepsy Res. 20, 151-159.

Kim U., Clifton K. H., and Furth J. (1960) A highly inbred strain of Wistar rats yielding spontaneous mammo-somatotropic pituitary and other tumors. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 24, 1031-1055.

Kitano M., Hatano H., and Shisa H. (1992) Strain difference of susceptibility to 4-nitroquinoline 1-oxide- induced tongue carcinoma in rats. Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 83, 843-850.

Lin W.-L. and Essner E. (1988) Retinal dystrophy in Wistar-Furth rats. Exp. Eye Res. 46, 1-12.

Marit G. B., Young S. M., and Hadick C. L. (1995) Anatomic and physiological characterization of the WF/Pmwp-fz (fuzzy) rat. Lab. Animal Sci. 45, 184-190.

Mennander A., Tiisala S., Ustinov J., Raisanen A., Paavonen T., and Hayry P. (1992) Chronic rejection of rat aortic allografts .3. Synthesis of major eicosanoids by vascular wall components and effect of inhibition of the thromboxane cascade. Arteriosclerosis and Thrombosis 12, 1380-1386.

Miyamoto M. and Takisawa S. (1975) Brief communication: Colon carcinoma of highly inbred rats. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 55, 1471-1472.

Moloney W. C., Boschetti A. E., and King V. (1969) Observations on leukemia in Wistar Furth rats. Cancer Res. 29, 938-946.

Molteni A., Nickerson P. A., Gallant S., and Brownie A. C. (1975) Resistance of W/Fu rats to adrenal regeneration hypertension. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 150, 80-84.

Stankus R. P. and Leslie G. A. (1976) Rat interstrain antibody response and crossidiotypic specificity. Immunogenet. 3, 65-73.

Takahashi H., Shoji T., Tsubura A., and Morii S. (1992) Neoplastic response to DMBA powder in mammary and interscapular tissues in Wistar Furth and Copenhagen female rats. International Journal of Oncology 1, 657-659.

Tanase H., Yamori Y., Hansen C. T., and Lovenberg W. (1982) Heart size in inbred strains of rats. Part 1. Genetic determination of the development of cardiovascular enlargement in rats. Hypertension 4, 864-872.

Zieverink W. D. and Moloney W. C. (1965) Use of the Y chromosome in the Wistar/Furth rat as a cellular marker. Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol. Med. 119, 370-373.

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INBRED STRAINS OF RATS
Updated 9 Apr. 1998
Michael FW Festing
MRC Toxicology Unit, Hodgkin Building,
University of Leicester, UK