Effects of simulated weightlessness on eNOS expression in pulmonary artery in rat / 解放军医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the effects of simulated weightlessness on eNOS expression in the pulmonary artery in rat, and to investigate the mechanism of changed reactivity of pulmonary artery during simulated weightlessness. Methods The experiments were conducted in 16 male Wistar rats, and they were divided into 2 groups suspension group and control group, 8 rats for each. Tail-suspension (-30?) was carried out for 14d to simulate weightlessness. eNOS protein expression and NO content in pulmonary artery were determined using Western blot analysis and nitrate enzyme-reduction method, respectively. Results Compared with control group, eNOS expression in the rat pulmonary artery increased significantly during simulated weigtlessness. The relative optical density as a result of scanning was 247?2.60, and that of the control was 141?1.72. There were significant differences between the two groups (P