[Effect of simulated weightlessness on calcium metabolism and the condition of bone tissue in experimental animals]

Male rats of the Wistar strain were for 40 days exposed to hypokinesia and hypodynamia. After exposure bone biochemical, physical, chemical, morphological and strength parameters were investigated. Both simulation studies led to changes in calcium and phosphorus metabolism but the nature of bone changes was different. It is concluded that the efficacy of drugs used as countermeasures in animal simulation experiments should be assessed by both exposures, viz. small size cages and suspension, because they reproduce different mechanisms of potential bone lesions in microgravity. It is also inferred that various countermeasures should be used in combination to yield the best results.