Chowdhury P, Soulsby ME, Pasley JN, Rayford PL.
Gastroenterology. 1999 Apr; 116: A597.
Univ of Arkansas for Med Sci, Little Rock, USA.
Hindlimb unloading of rats offers a valid model to reproduce physiologic responses to weightlessness. The current study was conducted in rats to examine the influence of simulated weightlessness via rat tail suspension on lipid peroxidation in the brain tissues and pancreatic pathophysiology. Methods: Twenty Male Sprague-Dawley rats were placed on a 12/12 L/D cycle and divided into two groups of ten rats each. Rats in one group were suspended at 30 degrees via tail suspension to simulate weightlessness. Rats in the other group were not treated and were used as controls. After two weeks, the animals were anesthetized, sacrificed; the whole brain was collected and immediately frozen in liquid nitrogen. The brain was segmented into frontal cortex, cerebellum and brain stem regions and analyzed for formation of malonaldehyde (MDA) and 4-hydroxyalkenals (4-HNE) which are end-products of lipid peroxidation process. The pancreas was removed following midline incision and a portion was fixed with 10% buffered formalin for examination by light microscopy. The remaining pancreas was used to isolate pancreatic acinar cells to determine exocrine function by CCK-8 stimulated amylase release. Results: Concentrations of MDA and 4-HNE in frontal cortex, cerebellum and brain stem in control rats ranged from 16 to 18 uM/L and were not significantly different from each other, whereas concentrations of these aldehydes measured from those section of the brain of suspended rats were significantly increased from control, p<0.05. The histology of the pancreas of control rats was normal; however, the pancreas of suspended rats had an increased number of cytoplasmic vacuoles and fusion of acinar cell units. There were no significant differences in CCK-8 stimulated amylase release between the control and the suspended groups. Conclusion: These results suggest that rat tail suspension induce a stress response as shown by the production of lipid peroxides in the brain tissues. This response may be associated with histopathological changes in the exocrine pancreas.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine
- Aldehydes
- Amylases
- Animals
- Brain
- Brain Chemistry
- Cerebellum
- Hindlimb Suspension
- Lipid Peroxidation
- Lipid Peroxides
- Male
- Malondialdehyde
- Pancreas
- Rats
- Rats, Inbred Strains
- Rats, Sprague-Dawley
- Rats, Wistar
- Sincalide
- Weightlessness
- Weightlessness Simulation
- physiopathology
Other ID:
UI: 102194970
From Meeting Abstracts