title: [Effects of octacosanol in food physiological parameters in tail-suspended rats].
abstract: The purposes of the experiment were to observe the physiological effects of octacosanol in food on tail-suspended rats and to investigate the possibility of using octacosanol in health food for astronauts. 24 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into free action control, tail-suspension and tail suspension plus octacosanol (TSO) groups. Octacosanol was emulsified into water by supersound and given to TSO rats with a dosage of 25 mg/kg wt d. The results showed that octacosanol elevated the weight of thymus, improved biomechanical properties of the femur and improved membrane fluidity of red blood cell. It suggests that octacosanol can counteract some effects of simulated weightlessness on rats. Therefore, octacosanol may be added to natural foods to benefit the health of cosmonauts.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Space Medico-Engineering, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000337:Aerospace Medicine; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004910:Erythrocyte Membrane / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D005233:Fatty Alcohols / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005269:Femur / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D019417:Hindlimb Suspension / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013154:Spleen / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000187:drug effects*; D018544:Weightlessness Countermeasures; D018474:Weightlessness Simulation
chemical_list: D005233:Fatty Alcohols; C044309:1-octacosanol