Spaceflight and development of immune responses

• Published in: Journal of applied physiology (1985) Vol. 85; no. 4; pp. 1429 - 1433
• Main Authors: Sonnenfeld, Gerald, Foster, Mareva, Morton, Darla, Bailliard, Frederique, Fowler, Nina A, Hakenewerth, Anne M, Bates, Roge, Miller, Edwin S., Jr
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bethesda, MD Am Physiological Soc 01-10-1998; American Physiological Society
• Subjects: Anatomy & physiology; Animals; Antibody Formation; Biological and medical sciences; Child development; Concanavalin A; Effects; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Immune system; Immunity, Cellular; Immunobiology; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Interferon-gamma - biosynthesis; Lymphocyte Activation; Lymphocytes - immunology; Modulation of the immune response (stimulation, suppression); Pregnancy; Pregnancy, Animal - immunology; Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; Rats; Reference Values; Space; Space Flight; Space life sciences; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Immune response; Rat; Rodentia; Development; Environmental factor; Weightlessness; Space flight; Microgravity; Immune system; NASA Experiment Number 9303009; NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology; Non-NASA Center
• ISSN: 8750-7587; 1522-1601
• DOI: 10.1152/jappl.1998.85.4.1429

1  Department of General Surgery
Research, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina
28232-2861; and 2  Department of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Texas Tech University
Health Sciences Center, Amarillo, Texas 79106
The NIH.R1 Space Shuttle experiment was
designed to study the effects of spaceflight on rodent development.
Pregnant rats were flown on the Space Shuttle for 11 days, and pregnant
control rats were maintained in animal enclosure modules in a
ground-based chamber under conditions approximating those in flight.
Additional controls were in standard housing. The effects of the flight
on immunological parameters of dams, fetuses, and pups were determined. Blastogenesis of spleen cells in response to mitogen was inhibited in
flown dams but was not inhibited in cells from their pups. Interferon- production by spleen cells showed a trend toward inhibition in flown dams but not in their pups. The response of bone
marrow cells to colony-stimulating factor showed a trend toward
inhibition after spaceflight in dams, but the response of fetus and pup
liver cells was not inhibited. Total serum IgG was not affected by
spaceflight. None of the examined immune parameters that were altered
in rat dams after spaceflight was found to be altered in their
offspring.
antibody; development; cellular immunity