[Activity of various liver enzymes in rats following a flight aboard the Cosmos-936 biosatellite]

After the 18.5-day flight on board the biosatellite Cosmos-936, the activity of 6 glucocorticoid-activated enzymes in the rat liver was investigated. It was found that at R+O activities of tyrosine aminotransferase and tryptophane pyrrolase, as well as fructose-1,6-diphosphatase, glucose-6-phosphatase, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase increased. The two former enzymes react rapidly (within several hours) to an increase in the glucocorticoid level, whereas those latter react only to a continuous prolonged effect of glucocorticoids. These increases were paralleled by a growth in the glycogen concentration in the liver. The findings indicate that during the flight the rats underwent a chronic stress induced by weightlessness.