Regional surface areas of spontaneously hypertensive and Wistar-Kyoto rats

Regional skin surface area and region-specific weighting factors for calculating mean skin temperature have not been determined for the rat. Therefore, measurements were made of total skin surface area segmented into five regions of 12 spontaneously hypertensive (SHR) and 12 normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats. SHR's were selected because chronically elevated core temperature and reduced ability of SHR's to withstand heat stress make them of interest for thermoregulatory studies. Area was determined by coating the skin with rubber base dental impression material, then measuring the area of the coating. The relationship between total skin surface area and mass of SHR's was not different from that of WKY's and is described by the equation SA = 8.62 M0.67. However, the ears of SHR's had larger surface area and their tails smaller surface area than those of WKY's. For the combined groups, the proportion of total surface area of the regions was as follows: ears, 0.022; front feet, 0.017; hind feet, 0.040; tail, 0.100; central skin, 0.826. These data provide a basis for calculating skin surface area, mean skin temperature, and related values for SHR and WKY rats.