Animal Models of Hypertension (ISIAH Rats), Catatonia (GC Rats), and Audiogenic Epilepsy (PM Rats) Developed by Breeding.

Research into genetic and physiological mechanisms of widespread disorders such as arterial hypertension as well as neuropsychiatric and other human diseases is urgently needed in academic and practical medicine and in the field of biology. Nevertheless, such studies have many limitations and pose difficulties that can be overcome by using animal models. To date, for the purposes of creating animal models of human pathologies, several approaches have been used: pharmacological/chemical intervention; surgical procedures; genetic technologies for creating transgenic animals, knockouts, or knockdowns; and breeding.

Modeling of Focal Seizures with Automatisms in Rats with Pendulum Movements.

Phenotypical study was carried out in rats with pendulum movements. The animals exhibited a high level of abortive seizures in response to audiogenic stimuli and longer postictal catalepsy in comparison with those in Wistar population. Seizure severity positively correlated with the duration of poststimulus catalepsy (r=0.

Synchronization of the Estrous Cycle against the Background of Increased Excitability in Rats Selected for Catatonic Type of Reaction.

Selection for the elevation of catatonic type of reaction in female GC rats ("genetic" and "catatonia") was followed by an increase in the number of intense running episodes in response to acoustic stimulation. The observed changes are typical of increased general excitability in these animals. The phenomenon of estrous cycle synchronization was confirmed by variations in the concentrations of estradiol and progesterone in groups of Wistar and GC rats differing by the degree of synchronization.

[Comparative analysis of imipramine intake reactions in catatonic and wistar rats].

Chronic imipramine intake (7.5 mg/kg) leads to the stable decrease of excitable reactions to sound stimulant in Wistar rats and induced phase behavioral response in catatonic GC rats. Increased noradrenaline level in frontal cortex and striatum in Wistar animals was shown, whereas it didn't reveal noradrenaline level differences in any brain structures in GC rats.

[Selection for catatonic reaction in rats: a study of interstrain differences by magnetic resonance imaging].

Brain studies by magnetic resonance imaging, angiography, and spectroscopy have been performed with rat strains Wistar, GC (genetic and catatonia), and PM+ (pendulum movements). Both GC and PM+ rats show similar deviations from the ancestral Wistar population in having smaller areas of the right striatum (coronal slice). The anterior horns of lateral ventricles in GC rats are smaller than in the control strain.