Effect of weightlessness and centrifugation (LXG) on erythrocyte survival in rats subjected to prolonged space flight

摘要

Rats were flown aboard the biosatellite Cosmos 936 for 18.5 days. Five rats were subjected to near-weightless space flight and five rats were subjected to a one g force via an onboard centrifuge. These rats, and 3 control groups were injected with 2-C-14 glycine 19 days preflight. The flight rats were recovered from orbit after 18.5 days of space flight. Erythrocyte hemolysis and life span were evaluated in the five groups of rats by quantitation of radioactive carbon monoxide exhaled in the breath, which arises from the breakdown of the previously labeled hemoglobin. The results are supportive of previous findings, wherein hemolysis was found to increase as a result of weightless space flight. A comparison with the centrifuged animals indicates that artificial gravity attenuates the effect of weightlessness on hemolysis and appears to normalize the hemolytic rate in the early postflight period.