title: Mechanical tensile properties of the aortic wall in the premature rat exposed to the microgravity environment during space flight for 16 days.
abstract: Under microgravity environment, blood shifts headward and thereafter decrease in volume to adapt to the environment, which could affect cardiovascular hemodynamics and their regulatory mechanisms. Baroreceptor sensitivity is known to be reduced in newborn animals and to gradually increase with development. The baroreceptor is a stretch receptor; therefore its function is closely related to the rheological properties and fine structure of the aortic wall in which the baroreceptor lies. The mechanical and histological properties could be altered under microgravity conditions in the process of development with change in circulatory function. In the present study, we investigated the mechanical tensile characteristics and histological structure of the aortic wall in the proximal thoracic aorta of premature rats bred in the microgravity environment of the space shuttle for 16 days.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University.
authors.forename: S I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Katsuda
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yamasaki
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Waki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nagayama
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: O-ishi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Katahira
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wago
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okouchi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagaoka
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mukai
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yanagawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uemura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001011:Aorta / Q000502:physiology*; D004548:Elasticity; D011311:Pressoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013026:Space Flight; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014893:Weightlessness