Abstract
Hypodynamia can be used to simulate weightlessness in laboratory conditions. The objective of our study was to investigate the effects of chronic hypodynamia on the growth and development of the testes and cloacal gland, and plasma testosterone concentration in Japanese quail. The testis weight in males reared under hypodynamia was significantly lower compared to agematched control between 21 and 63 days of age (P < 0.05). The cloacal gland area of experimental birds calculated from its width and length was also smaller in comparison with control quail from 35 to 56 days of age (P < 0.05). The foam production was significantly lower in hypodynamia males at age 35, 42, 49 and 63 days (P < 0.05). The plasma testosterone concentration was significantly reduced in hypodynamia birds between 35 and 70 days of age (P < 0.05), with the exception of day 56. These results provide further evidence that although hypodynamia negatively affects the examined variables, the male Japanese quail is able to develop normally under conditions of simulated weightlessness.
Highlights
Long-term manned missions into space require a detailed understanding of developmental biology of the species that serve as food or companion animals but as well as models for study of the influence of space environment on human organism
The first studies to examine the effect of hypodynamia were carried out on the adult Japanese quail (Juráni et al 1983), followed by similar experiments aimed at post-hatching development of Japanese quail chicks (Škrobánek et al 2001)
The cloacal gland foam production was determined by subjective scaling of the amount of foam ejected upon manual expression of foam gland, using a scale of 1 to 5
Summary
Long-term manned missions into space require a detailed understanding of developmental biology of the species that serve as food or companion animals but as well as models for study of the influence of space environment on human organism. Japanese quail may be used as one of the models (Boďa 1993). On board the Mir space station newly hatched Japanese quail chicks had all the external characteristics of normal development (Sabo et al 2001). It remains unknown how microgravity may influence their further development during different ontogenetic phases. The objective of this study was to investigate the influence of simulated microgravity on development of the cloacal gland and testes of male Japanese quail reared under hypodynamia from day 3 post-hatch to 70 days of age
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