Objective: To confirm the tail-suspended rat model for the study of countermeasures against weightlessness.
Method: The changes of blood circulation, muscle and skeletal systems in control group rats (n = 15) and 30 d tail-suspended rats (n = 15) were compared.
Result: Compared with the control group, the hemorrheology and erythrocyte deformability decreased significantly, muscle-fiber atrophy, muscle contraction function decreased, the type I muscle fibers transformed to the type II muscle fibers, bone-mineral content of L3 and load capacity of femur declined, bone metabolism changed in the suspended rats.
Conclusion: The tail-suspended rat is a suitable animal model for the study of countermeasures against weightlessness.