Effects of acute tilt from orthostatic to head-down antiorthostatic restraint and of sustained restraint on the intra-cerebroventricular pressure in rats

Abstract The tail-cast suspension rat model was developed to explore in ground laboratories the physiological effects of some of the stresses prevailing during space flight including and among them those of the headwards body fluid shifts. We recently showed in rats that an acute head-down tilt (45°) from tail-cast orthostatic (OR) to antiorthostatic restraint (AOR) induced within 30 min and for 2 to 4 h an acute stress-like surge in plasma ACTH and corticosterone levels. Considering the proximity of the CRF producing neurons with the 3rd ventricle, we decided to explore the acute and longer-term effects of the OR/AOR tilt on the intra-cerebroventricular pressure ( P icv ) measured with an indwelling sensor-transmitter catheter stereotaxically implanted in the 3rd ventricle. At 1- or 10-min intervals the unit sent radiotelemetric signals for both P icv and motor activity (MA) to a receiver coupled with an automatic data analyser. The acute AOR-tilt induced within 10 min and for 60 min a 2.5-fold rise in P icv which receded to baseline between 60 and 90 min. During this time, the normally close correlation between P icv and MA was lost, as assessed by Spearman's rank coefficient. In a long-term experimental series we explored the evolution of both P icv and MA in individual rats subjected successively to a 7 day control phase (C), 7 days OR, and 3 days AOR. After the 1-h-long post-tilt rise of the P icv , the mean P icv levels measured for the next 3 days decreased significantly vs. both the preceding OR phase (−30%) and the initial C phase (−40%). The circadian pattern of the diurnal Picv profile was impaired, as evidenced by a significant fall (i) in the night/day ratio (−25% vs. C), and (ii) even more in the spectral power of the circadian 1 c/24 h frequency (−85% vs. C). The simultaneously recorded MA fluctuations similarly displayed an altered diurnal pattern with a spectral power of the circadian frequency reduced to 7% of controls. However, contrary to the short-term experiment, in the long-term study the large alterations to both P icv and MA were strongly correlated, as during the control phase. The mechanisms involved in the swift post-tilt rise in the P icv together with an aroused corticotropic axis, and in the impact of sustained head-down restraint on CNS-controlled adaptive regulations including their circadian rhythms remain unknown.