title: Effects of simulated weightlessness on erythrocyte deformability in rats.
abstract: In order to investigate the mechanism of space anemia, the erythrocyte deformability membrane fluidity and cell shape in 7, 15, 30 day tail-suspended rats were observed. The results were: (1) erythrocyte deformability (DImax and IDI) in suspended rats was significantly lower than that in the control on the 7th day (P<0.05), and had a further decrease on the 15th day (P<0.01), but a recovery was found on the 30th day (P<0.05). (2) membrane fluidity in suspended rats was markedly lower than that in the control group on the 15th and 30th day, degrees of fluorescence polarization was increased (P<0.01), but there was no change on the 7th day. (3) percentage of erythrocytes with abnormal shape in suspended rats was higher than that in the control group during the whole experimental period. The results indicate that the changes of rheological and morphological properties of red cell were induced by simulated weightlessness (SWL), which may be an important cause of space anemia.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Space Medico-Engineering, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xiang
mesh_terms: D000740:Anemia / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D000818:Animals; D048429:Cell Size; D004907:Erythrocyte Deformability / Q000502:physiology*; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004913:Erythrocytes, Abnormal; D019417:Hindlimb Suspension / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D008560:Membrane Fluidity / Q000502:physiology*; D008563:Membrane Lipids / Q000502:physiology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013047:Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; D018474:Weightlessness Simulation / Q000009:adverse effects*
chemical_list: D008563:Membrane Lipids