Abstract
Sprague-Dawley rats were studied to learn whether gestation in the near-zero gravity, high radiation environment of space impacts selected mammalian postnatal events. Ten rats spent days nine to twenty of pregnancy aboard the space shuttle orbiterAtlantis (STS-66). Their movement, was studied shortly after return to Earth; subsequently, several of their offspring were cross-fostered and examined through postnatal day 81 (P81) for whole body growth and somatic motor development. Values for the flight animals were compared to ground-based control groups. Relative to controls, the pregnant flight rats showed a marked paucity of locomotion during the first few hours after returning to Earth. There was greater likelihood of perinatal morbidity for the offspring of flight dams when compared to the control groups. Whole body weight of surviving offspring, averaged for each group separately, showed typical sigmoidal growth curves when plotted against postnatal age. The flight group for our study had a larger ratio of female to male pups, and that was sufficient to account for the lower average daily weight gained by the flight animals when compared to the control groups. Walking was universally achieved by P13 and preceded eye opening which was complete in all pups by P17. Thus, both of these developmental horizons were attained on schedule in the flight as well as the control rats. Characteristic changes were observed in hind limb step length and gait width as the pups grew. These patterns occurred at the same time in each group of rats. Therefore, prenatal space flight from days nine to twenty of gestation did not interfere with the establishment of normal patterns for hind paw placement during walking.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Addison, W.H.F., and How, H.W. (1921). The development of the eyelids of the albino, rat, until the completion of disjunction.American Journal of Anatomy, 29:1–31.
Alberts, J.R., Burden, H.W., Hawes, N., and Ronca, A.E. (1996). Sampling both prenatal and postnatal offspring from individual rat dams enhances animal utilization without compromising development.Current Topics in Laboratory Animal Science, 35:61–65.
Alberts, J.R., Keefe, J.R., Serova, L.V., and Apenasenko, Z. (1986). Early postnatal development of rats exposed to microgravity, pp. 145–188. In: R. C. Mains, and E.W. Gomersall (Eds.)Final report of U.S. monkey and rat experiments flown on the Soviet satellite Cosmos 1514. NASA Technical Memorandum 88223.
Alberts, J., Ronca, A.E., Abel, R.A., Armbruster, M.E., Cabell, K.S., Farrell, W.J., and Galvani, C.D. (1995). Maternal behavior and offspring development of NIH.R1 rats.ASGSB Bulletin, 9:96.
Alberts, J.R., Ronca, A.E., Abel, R., Armbruster, M., Cabell, K., and Galvani, C. (1996). NIH.R2 spaceflight, effects on rat parturition and offspring vestibular function.Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin, 10:29.
Altman, J., and Sudarshan, K. (1975). Postriatal development of locomotion in the laboratory rat.Animal Behaviour, 23:896–920.
Annis, L.F. (1978).The child before birth, Ithaca. New York: Cornell University Press.
Bekoff, M., and Byers, J.A. (1981). A critical reanalysis of the ontogeny and phylogeny of mammalian social and locomotor play: An ethological hornet’s nest, pp. 296–337. In: K. Immelmann, G. Barlow, M. Main, and L. Petrinovich (Eds.),Behavioral development: The Bielefield interdiscriplinary project. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Bolles, R.C., and Woods, P.J. (1964). The ontogeny of behaviour in the albino rat.Animal Behaviour, 12: 427–441.
Brody, S. (1945).Bioenergetics and Growth. New York: Rheinhold Press.
DeSantis, M., Wong, A., and Parkman, K. (1995). Two motor horizons—walking, and eye opening— are unaffected by prenatal exposure to near-zero gravity.ASGSB Bulletin, 9:96.
Donaldson, H.H. (1915). The rat. Data and reference tables for the albino rat (mus norvegicus albinus) and the Norway rat (mus norvegicus. Memoirs of The Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology. no. 6, Philadelphia.
Fagen, R. (1981).Animal Play Behavior. New York: Oxford University Press.
Fox, R.A., Corcoran, M., Daunton, N.G., and Morey-Holton, E. (1994). Effects of spaceflight and hindlimb suspension on the posture and gait of rats, pp. 603–606. In: K. Taguchi, M. Igarashi and S. Mori (Eds.),Vestibular and neural front. Amsterdam: Elsevier Science B.V.
Fuller, C.A., Hoban-Higgins, T.M., Murakami, D.M., and Tang, I.-H. (1996). Effect of pre-natal exposure to microgravity on circadian rhythms in rats during the flight of NIH.R2.Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin, 10:32.
Gabbe, S.G., Niebyl, J.R., and Simpson, J.L. (Eds.) (1991).Obstetrics, 2d ed., New York: Churchill Livingstone.
Greenawalt, S. (1993). Animal Enclosure, Module (AEM) Crew Training Familiarization Manual. (CT-080, Rev. A.). Moffett Field, California: NASA-Ames Research Center.
Hoath, S. (1986). Treatment of the neonatal rat with epidermal growth factor: Differences in time and organ response.Pediatric Research, 20:468–472.
Ijiri, K. (1995). Medaka fish had the honor to perform the first successful vertebrate, mating in space.The Fish Biology Journal MEDAKA, 7:1–10.
Johnson, C.C., and Oyama, J. (1995). Effect of gravity gradient on rats.ASGSB Bulletin, 9:66.
Keefe, J.R. (1985). Vertebrate development in space, pp. 35–43. In: K.A., Souza and T.W. Halstead (Eds.),NASA developmental biology workshop: A summary. NASA-Technical Memorandum 86756.
King, H.D. (1915). The growth and variability in the body weight of the albino rat.Anatomical Record, 9: 751–776.
King, H.D. (1923). The growth and variability in the body weight of the Norway rat (mus norvegicus).Anatomical Record, 25:79–94.
Miquel, J., and Souza, K.A. (1991). Gravity effects on reproduction, development, and aging.Advances in Space Biology and Medicine, 1:71–97.
Moberg, G.P. (1985). Influence of stress on reproduction: Measure of well-being, pp. 245–267. In: G.P. Moberg (Ed.),Animal stress. Bethesda, Maryland: American Physiological Society.
Mullenix, P., Norton, S., and Culver, B. (1975). Locomotor damage in rats after X-irradiationin utero Experimental Neurology, 48:310–324.
Naumenko, E.V. (1984). Role of brain noradrenaline, in the effects of pre-and early postnatal stress on the adrenocortical function in adults, pp. 63–80. In: K.W. McKerns, and V. Pantic (Eds.),Neuroendocrine correlates of stress. New York: Plenum Press.
Oyama, J., Solgaard, L., Corrales, J., and Monson, C.B. (1985). Growth and development of mice and rats conceived and reared at different G-intensities during chronic centrifugation.The Physiologist, Suppl. 28:S83-S84.
Parker, A.J., and Clarke, K.A. (1990). Gait topography in rat locomotion.Physiology and Behavior, 48: 41–47.
Parkman, K., Wong, A., and DeSantis, M. (1995). Locomotor behavior of rats after exposure to the conditions of space flight.Journal of the Idaho Academy of Science, 31:34–35.
Rushton, R., Steinberg, H., and Tinson, C. (1963). Effects of a single experience on subsequent reactions to drugs.British Journal of Pharmacology and Chemotherapy, 21: 295–305.
Serova, L.V. (1980). Weightlessness effects on resistance and reactivity of animals.The Physiologist, Suppl. 23:S22-S26.
Serova, L.V., Alberts, J., Apanasenko, Z.I., and Keefe, R. (1993a). Growth and development of newborn rats during their first month of life, pp. 41–43. In: O.G. Gazenko (Ed.),Ontogenesis of mammals in microgravity. NASA Technical Memorandum 103978.
Serova, L.V., Chel’naya, N.A., and Bryantseva, L.A. (1993b). State of female rats exposed to microgravity during pregnancy, pp. 21–33. In: O.G. Gazenko (Ed.),Ontogenesis of mammals in microgravity. NASA Technical Memorandum 103978.
Serova, L.V., Chel’naya, N.A., and Bryantseva, L.A. (1993b). State of female rats exposed to microgravity during pregnancy, pp. 21–33. In: O.G., Gazenko (Ed.),Ontogenesis of mammals in microgravity. NASA Technical Memorandum 103978.
Serova, L.V., and Denisova, L.A. (1982). The effect of weightlessness on the reproductive function of mammals.The Physiologist, Suppl. 25:S9-S12.
Serova, L.V., Denisova, L.A., Makeeva, V.F., Chelnaya, N.A., and Pustynnikova, A.M. (1984). The effect of microgravity on the prenatal development of mammals.The Physiologist, Suppl. 27:S107-S110.
Serova, L.V., Vacek, A., Denisova, L.A., Lavrova, E.A., Makeyeva, V.F., Natochin, Y.V., Chel’naya, N.A., and Shakhmatova, E.I. (1993c). State of the neonates, pp. 37–38. In: O.G. Gazenko (Ed.),Ontogenesis of mammals in microgravity. NASA Technical Memorandum 103978.
Slonaker, J.R. (1912). The normal activity of the albino rat from birth to natural death, its rate of growth and duration of life.Journal of Animal Behavior, 2:20–42.
Smart, J.L., McMahon, A.C., Massey, R.F., Akbar, G-N.K., and Warren, M.A. (1990). Evidence of nonmaternally mediated acceleration of eye-opening in ‘enriched’ artificially reared rat pups.Developmental Brain Research, 56:141–143.
Thompson, D. (1942).On Growth and Form. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tilney, F. (1933). Behavior in its relation to the development of the brain.Bulletin of the Neurological Institute, N.Y., 3:252–358.
Walton, K.D., Llinas, R.R., Kalb, R.G., Hillman, D., and Jacoby, J. (1996). Changes in gravity influence rat postnatal motor system development: From simulation to space station.Gravitational and Space Biology Bulletin, 10:4.
Westerga, J., and Gramsbergen, A. (1990). The development of locomotion in the ratDevelopmental Brain Research, 57:163–174.
Wolgemuth, D.J., and Murashov, A.K. (1995). Models and molecular approaches to assessing the effects of the microgravity environment on vertebrate development.ASGSB Bulletin, 8:63–71.
Wong, A., Parkman, K., and DeSantis, M. (1995). Gender, more than space flight during part of gestation, influences postnatal weight gain in rats.ASGSB Bulletin, 9:10.
Zullinger, E.M., Ricklefs, R.E., Redford, K.H., and Mace, G.M. (1984). Fitting sigmoidal equations to mammalian growth curves.Journal of Mammalogy, 64:607–636.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wong, A.M., De Santis, M. Rat gestation during space flight: Outcomes for dams and their offspring born after return to earth. Integrative Physiological and Behavioral Science 32, 322–342 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02688630
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02688630