Cardiac Death and Myocardial Lesions in Non-Stroke SHRSP Under Specific Pathogen-Free System

Abstract

The most remarkable finding in SHRSP with cardiac death under specific pathogen-free system was idiopathic diffuse fatty degeneration of the myocardium.
Besides fatty degeneration, diffuse myocardial fibrosis and scattered infarction were observed. In male rats the incidence of cardiac death increased with each generation. Therefore, this myocardial degeneration seemed to be hereditary disorder. The SHRSP with cardiac death seemed to be a new type of SHR, namely Heart-Prone SHR (SHRHP). SHRHP may be a kind of animal model for congestive cardiomyopathy (COCM) in human beings.