In this experimental study, the AC impedance of isolated gastrocnemius was measured with an impendance analyzer of Agilent 4294A, and the effect of simulated weightlessness on the dielectric properties of the cells in isolated rat sural muscle was investigated by analyzing the dielectric numerical characters with the use of dielectric spectroscopy, the Cole-Cole plots, the spectrum of loss factor and loss tangent, as well as the spectrum of conductivity imaginary part. The results demonstrated that 10 weeks' simulated weightlessness caused some changes; for example, both permittivity at low frequency (epsilonL) and permittivity increment (deltaepsilon) were reduced, and conductivity at high frequency (kappa(h)) was also reduced; at the same time, conductivity increment (deltakappa) was reduced, too. The first characteristic frequency (f(C1)) decreased, while the second characteristic frequency(f(C2)) increased. All of the peak of loss factor, the peak of loss tangent, and the maximum of conductivity imaginary part were reduced. These data indicated that the reduction of dielectric properties of skeletal muscles was induced by weightlessness.
Animals ; Electric Impedance ; Electrophysiology ; In Vitro Techniques ; Male ; Muscle, Skeletal ; pathology ; physiology ; Rats ; Rats, Sprague-Dawley ; Weightlessness Simulation