Lymphatic tissue changes in rats flown on spacelab life sciences-2
.
Congdon, C. C., Z. Allebban, L. A. Gibson, A. Kaplansky, K. M.
Strickland, T. L. Jago, D. L. Johnson, R. D. Lange, and A. T. Ichiki.
University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville, Department of
Medical Biology, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37920, U.S.A. and *Institute
for Biomedical Problems, Moscow, Russia, 123007
APStracts 2:0453A, 1995.
Thymus, spleen, inguinal lymph node and bone marrow specimens from
rats flown on the 14 day Space Life Sciences-2 mission were examined
after staining of tissue sections. The primary observation was a
transient retrogressive change in lymphatic tissues in the rats
within a few hours after landing. There was a diffuse increase in
tingible body containing macrophages in the cortex of the thymus,
thymus-dependent areas of the spleen white pulp and inguinal lymph
node. This was not observed nine days after recovery. The in situ
labeling of fragmented DNA strands catalyzed by exogenous terminal
deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) with ApoTag reagents (Oncor, Inc.,
Gaithersburg, MD) inside the tingible body containing macrophages
indicated the process was one of apoptosis. No increase in tingible
body macrophage activity was noted in thymus and spleen tissue
obtained from rats in flight on flight day 13. The reaction to
gravitational stress from readaptation to 1G is the most likely
explanation of the transient retrogressive change in lymphatic
tissues.
Received 25 July 1995; accepted in final form 2 October 1995.
APS Manuscript Number A813-5.
Article publication pending Journal of Applied Physiology.
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 1995 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 6 November 95