Hematological and biochemical characterization of aging farm male rat strains in the national center for geriatrics and gerontology.

Laboratory rats, like mice, are a type of animal commonly used in scientific investigations as well as in basic aging and geriatric research. The selection of a rat strain is an important first step in the planning and design of an experiment due to physiological, anatomical, and ethological variations in each strain, which may significantly modify the expected results. In the present study, we characterized age-related changes, from 3 months old (mo) to 24 mo, in three male rat strains commonly used in medical research: RccHan:WIST (RccHan:WIST), F344/NSlc (F344), and Slc:SD Rat (SD).