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Effects of weightlessness on body composition in the ratThe effects of weightlessness on the body composition of rats were investigated using 5 male rats exposed to 18.5 days of weightlessness on the COSMOS 1129 biosatellite and killed after reentry. The animals were immediately dissected and the three major body divisions (musculoskeletal system, skin, and pooled viscera) were analyzed for fat, water, solids, and six elements. These results were determined as percentages of the fat-free body or its components and then compared with two groups of terrestrial controls, one of which was subjected to a flight simulation in a spacecraft mock-up while the other was under standard vivarium conditions. Compared with the control groups, the flight group was found to exhibit a reduced fraction of total body water, a net shift of body water from skin to viscera, a marked diminution in the fraction of extracellular water in the fat-free body, a marked reduction in the fraction of bone mineral, no change in the quantity of stored fat or adrenal masses, and a net increase in total muscle mass as indicated by total body creatine, protein, and body cell mass.
Document ID
19830063649
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Pitts, G. C.
(Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Ushakov, A. S.
(Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Pace, N.
(Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Smith, A. H.
(Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Rahlmann, D. F.
(Virginia Univ. Charlottesville, VA, United States)
Smirnova, T. A.
(Virginia, University Charlottesville, VA; Ministerstvo Zdravookhraneniia SSSR, Institut Mediko-Biologicheskikh Problem, M, United States)
Date Acquired
August 11, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 1983
Publication Information
Publication: American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Interactive and Comparative Physiology
Volume: 13
ISSN: 0363-6119
Subject Category
Life Sciences (General)
Accession Number
83A44867
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSG-7336
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS2-10195
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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