| Abstract: | Red blood was analyzed in six 25 to 40 yr. old male volunteers in a 120-d head-down bedrest (HDBR) study. The hematological investigation included morphological analyses (erythrocyte count and hemoglobin), and determination of iron turnover, erythrocyte IgA, IgG and IgM, metabolism, lipids and phospholipids, and lipid peroxidation rate (LPO). At the beginning of HDBR (day 7), the erythrocyte count and hemoglobin content were found increased w/o any visible changes in the other parameters. Further exposure to HDBR (days 50-100) resulted in modification of intracellular metabolism in erythrocytes, increases in serum iron, and serum and erythrocyte ferritin. On HDBR days 50 and 100, and post-HDBR day 9, cholesterol was increased, LPO intensified and antioxidant activities inhibited, which suggested destabilization of the cell membrane. Hematological shifts in the bedrested volunteers were of the type and pattern similar to those in cosmonauts who fulfilled extended space missions. |
