We have reported in a previous paper ( Paper I ) B , V and I band photometric data for a sample of 24 edge-on interacting spiral galaxies , together with a control sample of 7 edge-on isolated galaxies .
We discuss here the main result found in this study : the ratio h / z _ { 0 } of the radial exponential scalelength h to the constant scaleheight z _ { 0 } is about twice smaller for interacting galaxies .
This is found to be due both to a thickening of the plane , and to a radial stripping or shrinking of the stellar disk .
If we believe that any galaxy experienced a tidal interaction in the past , we must conclude that continuous gas accretion and subsequent star formation can bring back the ratio h / z _ { 0 } to higher values , in a time scale of 1 Gyr .