Leucocyte system in spontanously hypertensive rats (SHR)

Investigations were carried out on spontanously hypertensive rats (SHR) of F3 and F4 generation of Okamoto-Aoki strain and on normotensive rats (NR) of Wistar strain. Blood pressure was measured by an indirect method. The haematological determinations were carried out using classical methods. The difference between SHR and normotensive rats were found not only in the values of blood pressure and in the number of erythrocytes but also in the number of leucocytes and the haemogram. The percentage of neutrocytes was significantly higher in 5 week-old female SHR than in NR of the some age and sex. The whole number of white cells depended on sex and age of animals but it was always lower in SHR than in NR. This seems to be independent of the changes in blood pressure.