Disruption of circadian locomotor activity in rats after portacaval anastomosis is not gender dependent
Petra E. Steindl, Jeanne Gottstein, Andres T. Blei – 1 December 1995 – A recent study suggested that female rats are less affected by a portacaval anastomosis (PCA) than their male counterparts, as measured by body weight and changes in locomotor activity. In this study, we evaluated the entrainment of locomotor activity to the light/dark (LD) cycle, a consistent abnormality in the portacaval shunted rat. The degree of entrainment was measured in male and female rats before and after PCA or sham operation. All four groups of animals showed strong entrainment to an LD cycle before surgery.