Circadian and circaannual oscillations of tissue lipid peroxides (LPO) were studied in young male Wistar rats. The concentration of malondialdehyde, one of LPO degradation products, was measured at 3-h intervals during 24 hours in rats, adapted to lightrdark 12:12 h regimen in the course of the year. LPO in the liver, thymus and bone marrow oscillated rhythmically in the course of the day and year. Circadian oscillations in all tissues were two-peaked, with zeniths at various times of the light and dark parts of the day. In the liver and thymus, the highest mesors were found during the winter, in the bone marrow during the spring. The same holds for amplitude values, with the exception of the bone marrow which exhibited the highest values during the summer. The reason for the LPO oscillations is probably resulting from the changing ratio of pro- and anti-oxidative capacities in various tissues during the day and the year.
Suspension hypokinesia is a new model which can simulate some effects of microgravity on the organism of laboratory animals. Two groups of male SPF-bred Wistar rats were suspended for 24 h. In the first group hypokinesia began in the morning (M) (1 h after light onset, 0800 h), whereas the other group was subjected to this treatment from the evening (E) (1 h after dark onset, 2000 h). In the serum, there was a statistically significant increase in non-esterified fatty acids, triacylglycerols (TG) and glucose and a decrease in triiodothyronine concentration in the M group, while only a significant increase in phospholipids (PL) was found in the E group. The serum corticosterone level was increased in both groups, more markedly in the M group. There was an increase in TG and PL in the liver in M rats. In the bone marrow (femur), an increase of triglycerols in E rats and an increase of phospholipids in M rats were found. The concentration of glycogen in the heart muscle, m. quadriceps femoris and m. soleus rose in the M group only. The changes in the analyzed parameters predominate in the rats subjected to hypokinesia in the morning period. This fact confirmed the hypothesis about a higher sensitivity of rats to the stressor acting in the period of inactivity.