TY - JOUR
T1 - Next generation of astronauts or ESA astronaut 2.0 concept and spotlight on immunity
AU - Jacob, Pauline
AU - Oertlin, Christian
AU - Baselet, Bjorn
AU - Westerberg, Lisa S.
AU - Frippiat, Jean Pol
AU - Baatout, Sarah
N1 - Score=10
Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge the European Space Agency (ESA), the French Space Agency (CNES), ESA/BELSPO, and the Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA) for their support. B. Baselet is supported by ESA/BELSPO/Prodex, IMPULSE contract CO-90-11-2801-04. P. Jacob is supported by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. The authors S.B. and J.P.F. are members of the European Space Agency’s “Topical Team Stress Challenges and Immunity in Space” and thank all members, associates, and international participants who have helped evolve this field with inputs and discussions since 2008 that cannot be reflected or attributed individually due to given limitations. The authors wish to acknowledge the enabling support for the Topical Team by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the ELIPS 3, ELIPS 4, and SciSpacE program (contract 21183/07/NL/VJ provided to Alexander Choukér at the Hospital of the University of Munich, Germany).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).
PY - 2023/12
Y1 - 2023/12
N2 - Although we have sent humans into space for more than 50 years, crucial questions regarding immune response in space conditions remain unanswered. There are many complex interactions between the immune system and other physiological systems in the human body. This makes it difficult to study the combined long-term effects of space stressors such as radiation and microgravity. In particular, exposure to microgravity and cosmic radiation may produce changes in the performance of the immune system at the cellular and molecular levels and in the major physiological systems of the body. Consequently, abnormal immune responses induced in the space environment may have serious health consequences, especially in future long-term space missions. In particular, radiation-induced immune effects pose significant health challenges for long-duration space exploration missions with potential risks to reduce the organism’s ability to respond to injuries, infections, and vaccines, and predispose astronauts to the onset of chronic diseases (e.g., immunosuppression, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, gut dysbiosis). Other deleterious effects encountered by radiation may include cancer and premature aging, induced by dysregulated redox and metabolic processes, microbiota, immune cell function, endotoxin, and pro-inflammatory signal production 1,2. In this review, we summarize and highlight the current understanding of the effects of microgravity and radiation on the immune system and discuss knowledge gaps that future studies should address.
AB - Although we have sent humans into space for more than 50 years, crucial questions regarding immune response in space conditions remain unanswered. There are many complex interactions between the immune system and other physiological systems in the human body. This makes it difficult to study the combined long-term effects of space stressors such as radiation and microgravity. In particular, exposure to microgravity and cosmic radiation may produce changes in the performance of the immune system at the cellular and molecular levels and in the major physiological systems of the body. Consequently, abnormal immune responses induced in the space environment may have serious health consequences, especially in future long-term space missions. In particular, radiation-induced immune effects pose significant health challenges for long-duration space exploration missions with potential risks to reduce the organism’s ability to respond to injuries, infections, and vaccines, and predispose astronauts to the onset of chronic diseases (e.g., immunosuppression, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, gut dysbiosis). Other deleterious effects encountered by radiation may include cancer and premature aging, induced by dysregulated redox and metabolic processes, microbiota, immune cell function, endotoxin, and pro-inflammatory signal production 1,2. In this review, we summarize and highlight the current understanding of the effects of microgravity and radiation on the immune system and discuss knowledge gaps that future studies should address.
KW - ESA
KW - Immune system
KW - Space
KW - Microgravity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85163705414&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41526-023-00294-z
DO - 10.1038/s41526-023-00294-z
M3 - Literature review
AN - SCOPUS:85163705414
SN - 2373-8065
VL - 9
JO - npj Microgravity
JF - npj Microgravity
IS - 1
M1 - 51
ER -