PATHOLOGIC CHANGES IN SENSITIZED RATS EXPOSED TO STRESS1

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Abstract
Male rats of the Sprague-Dawley strain were subjected to unilateral nephrectomy and were given a high sodium chloride diet to eat ad libitum. These sensitized rats were exposed to various stressors (limb ligation once each week, surgery once each week, hemorrhage twice each week, a burn once each week, a fracture once each week, or an injection of 1 per cent formaldehyde twice each day) for 8 weeks. It should be emphasized that each form of stress was near the maximum severity which could be tolerated by the rats. Some pathology occurred in the kidneys of non-stressed sensitized rats and was aggravated by exposure to some of the stressors. Three of the stressed rats had elevated blood pressures. Myocardial changes were seen in only a few of the stressed animals. The pathology caused by these stressors was less severe than that seen in sensitized rats overdosed with hormones and in sensitized rats exposed to cold in other experiments. The hearts and kidneys did not increase in size when the animals were exposed to various stressors, the weights of thymus were moderately suppressed and the weights of adrenal glands were moderately increased.