DARK AGOUTI Rat

Model characteristics

Type:

Inbred rat

Strain name:

DA/HanRj

Origin:

Zentralinstitut für Versuchstierzucht (Hannover) - 1990

Colour and related genotype:

Agouti rat, A/A, B/B, C/C, H/H, P/P - MHC: RT1^av1 Erythrocyte antigens: RT2^b RT8^b - Lymphocyte antigens: RT6^bRT7^a

Breeding:

Difficult to rear

Cryo

In vivo

In vitro

Description of our model and application areas

This strain was bred by Dr T.T. ODELL Jr. from stock of unstated origin at the OAK Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee (USA) up to generation F11. It was then transferred to Dr Darcy WILSON at the WISTAR INSTITUTE, who named it DARK AGOUTI because of its colour and because it expressed the d blood group allele. PALM and BLACK suggested that this strain could be related to the COP strain (1971).

This strain develops spontaneous urinary bladder tumours (54 % in males and 14 % in females) with a peak incidence between 25 and 30 months. This strain is susceptible to the induction of autoimmune thyroiditis.

The DARK AGOUTI is a very good model for acute and chronic arthritis because it is highly susceptible to its induction by type II rat collagen or Freund’s adjuvant.