Hepatology during spaceflight

This chapter gives an overview of the effects of altered gravity on the liver observed in experimental animals during actual spaceflight and upon simulation of microgravity on Earth. These include (i) induction of liver injury and inflammation associated with apoptosis and oxidative stress, (ii) changes in liver carbohydrate metabolism resulting in the onset of a diabetogenic phenotype, (iii) modifications in hepatic lipid metabolism leading to early metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, and (iv) alterations in the hepatic xenobiotic biotransformation machinery.