The effects of spaceflight and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 on the T-cell and macrophage populations
- BioServe Space Technologies Engineering Center Campus Box 429 University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado80309 (United States)
- Laboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience Department of Psychology Campus Box 345 University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado80309 (United States)
- Chiron Corporation, 4560 Horton St., Emeryville, California94025 (United States)
Twelve Sprague-Dawley rats were flown aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-77) to study the effects of microgravity-induced stress on the immunoskeletal system. Sixteen rats were used as simultaneous vivarium ground controls during the ten day mission. Osmotic pumps, half of which contained Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1, provided by Chiron), were surgically implanted (subcutaneous) into the rats prior to launch in an attempt to counter any stress effects. On the day of landing, the rats were sacrificed and dissected. Splenocytes and thymocytes were labeled with antibodies against CD4, CD8, CD11b, and TCR for flow cytometry. The percentage of splenic cytotoxic/suppressor (TCR+/CD8+) T-cells increased significantly (by 118{percent}) in spaceflight. There were also decreases in splenic helper (TCR+/CD4+) T-cells and (CD11b+) macrophages (by 33{percent} and 38{percent}, respectively). Together, these results suggest the stress of spaceflight could cause a significant decrease in the ability of rats to mount an immune response. The effects of IGF-1 on cell population distributions were negligible for both flight and vivarium ground controls. However, there were significant differences in spleen and thymus masses suggesting that while IGF-1 did not effect population distributions, the drug may have caused an increase in population size. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- OSTI ID:
- 627587
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970115-; ISSN 0094-243X; TRN: 9808M0006
- Journal Information:
- AIP Conference Proceedings, Vol. 387, Issue 1; Conference: Space technology and applications international forum (STAIF - 97), Albuquerque, NM (United States), 26-30 Jan 1997; Other Information: PBD: Jan 1997
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Repopulation of the atrophied thymus in diabetic rats by insulin-like growth factor I
Arsenic interferes with the signaling transduction pathway of T cell receptor activation by increasing basal and induced phosphorylation of Lck and Fyn in spleen cells