Bone Mineral Analysis of Rat Vertebrae Following Space Flight: COSMOS 1129.

Abstract : The mission of COSMOS 1129 was to investigate the effects of 18.5 days of microgravity and readaptation to earth's gravity for various organisms. This study describes comparative mineral/element content of vertebral centra for rats flown aboard COSMOS 1129 (F) and rats from a ground based synchronous control study (S). F and S rats were sacrificed on a predetermined readaptive schedule following actual or simulated spaceflight recovery (R) at r+0, R+6, and R+29 days. 947 cleaned individual vertebral centra were harvested from these animals and stored frozen in sterile distilled water to await analysis. In preparation for mineral/element analysis each specimen was dried, weighed and digested in nitric acid. The prepared samples were analyzed for Ca2(+), PO4(-), K, Na, Ba, Sr, Fl, Mg, Pb, Mn, and Y using either atomic absorption spectrophotometry or colorimetric analysis. Bone mineral/element content was then expressed as a percent of dry bone weight. The paper presents comparative mineral/element content data between F and S for various recovery times. The use of the rat model for further understanding microgravic osteopenia is discussed.