Possible role of nutritional factors in the incidence of cerebral lesions in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats.

The incidence of cerebral lesions in stroke-prone spontaneously hypertensive rats appears to depend on the severity of the hypertension and nutritional factors. Comparison of American and Japanese commercial rat diets revealed a much higher incidence of stroke in rats receiving the Japanese diet (88% vs 30% by 9 months of age). Analyses of the diets indicate that perhaps the most important difference in the two diets is the protein content. Based on complete amino acid analyses of the protein in these diets, it appears that the American diet contains about 22% protein as compared to about 15% for the Japanese diet. Minor differences in vitamin and mineral contents are not remarkable. Comparison of the findings in this experimental rat model with epidemiologic studies suggest that nutritional factors may also play a role in the incidence of stroke in humans.