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Effects of hypergravity exposure on the developing central nervous system: possible involvement of thyroid hormoneThe present study examined the effects of hypergravity exposure on the developing brain and specifically explored the possibility that these effects are mediated by altered thyroid status. Thirty-four timed-pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to continuous centrifugation at 1.5 G (HG) from gestational Day 11 until one of three key developmental points: postnatal Day (P) 6, P15, or P21 (10 pups/dam: 5 males/5 females). During the 32-day centrifugation, stationary controls (SC, n = 25 dams) were housed in the same room as HG animals. Neonatal body, forebrain, and cerebellum mass and neonatal and maternal thyroid status were assessed at each time point. The body mass of centrifuged neonates was comparatively lower at each time point. The mass of the forebrain and the mass of the cerebellum were maximally reduced in hypergravity-exposed neonates at P6 by 15.9% and 25.6%, respectively. Analysis of neonatal plasma suggested a transient hypothyroid status, as indicated by increased thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) level (38.6%) at P6, while maternal plasma TSH levels were maximally elevated at P15 (38.9%). Neither neonatal nor maternal plasma TH levels were altered, suggesting a moderate hypothyroid condition. Thus, continuous exposure of the developing rats to hypergravity during the embryonic and neonatal periods has a highly significant effect on the developing forebrain and cerebellum and neonatal thyroid status (P < 0.05, Bonferroni corrected). These data are consistent with the hypothesized role of the thyroid hormone in mediating the effect of hypergravity in the developing central nervous system and begin to define the role of TH in the overall response of the developing organism to altered gravity.
Document ID
20040112309
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Sajdel-Sulkowska, E. M.
(Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States)
Li, G. H.
Ronca, A. E.
Baer, L. A.
Sulkowski, G. M.
Koibuchi, N.
Wade, C. E.
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 2001
Publication Information
Publication: Experimental biology and medicine (Maywood, N.J.)
Volume: 226
Issue: 8
ISSN: 1535-3702
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Non-NASA Center
NASA Center ARC
NASA Discipline Developmental Biology

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