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Reynolds RJ, Shelhamer M, Antonsen EL, Carpentier WR. Characterizing dehydration in short-term spaceflight using evidence from Project Mercury. NPJ Microgravity 2024; 10:64. [PMID: 38862554 PMCID: PMC11166991 DOI: 10.1038/s41526-024-00374-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024] Open
Abstract
Short-term spaceflight is commonly perceived as posing minimal risk to human health and performance. However, despite their duration, short-term flights potentially induce acute physiological changes that create risk to crews. One such change is dehydration (primarily body water loss) due to a heat-stressed environment. Such loss, if severe and prolonged, can lead to decrements in performance as well as increase the risk of more serious medical conditions. Though the general mechanisms of dehydration are broadly understood, the rate and extent of dehydration in short-term spaceflight has not been characterized. Combining data from the six spaceflights of the US Mercury program with a causal diagram illustrating the mechanisms of dehydration, we fit a path model to estimate the causal effects for all pathways in the causal model. Results demonstrate that Mercury astronauts experienced some degree of dehydration across the range of suited time and that the relationship between suited time and dehydration appears to be logarithmic. We discuss causal interpretations of the results and how the results from this and similar analyses can inform countermeasure development for short-term spaceflight.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mark Shelhamer
- The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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2
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Adamopoulos KI, Sanders LM, Costes SV. NASA GeneLab derived microarray studies of Mus musculus and Homo sapiens organisms in altered gravitational conditions. NPJ Microgravity 2024; 10:49. [PMID: 38671027 PMCID: PMC11053165 DOI: 10.1038/s41526-024-00392-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2022] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
One of the greatest challenges of humanity for deep space exploration is to fully understand how altered gravitational conditions affect human physiology. It is evident that the spaceflight environment causes multiple alterations to musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, immune and central nervous systems, to name a few known effects. To better characterize these biological effects, we compare gene expression datasets from microarray studies found in NASA GeneLab, part of the NASA Open Science Data Repository. In this review, we summarize these archived results for various tissues, emphasizing key genes which are highly reproducible in different mice or human experiments. Such exhaustive mining shows the potential of NASA Open Science data to identify and validate mechanisms taking place when mammalian organisms are exposed to microgravity or other spaceflight conditions. Our comparative meta-analysis findings highlight certain degrees of overlap and reproducibility in genes identified as differentially expressed within musculoskeletal tissues in each species across a variety of altered gravity conditions. However, the level of overlap between species was found to be significantly limited, partly attributed to the limited availability of human samples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantinos I Adamopoulos
- National Technical University of Athens, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering Laboratory, Zografou, Athens, Greece
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
| | - Lauren M Sanders
- Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
- NASA Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA
| | - Sylvain V Costes
- NASA Space Biosciences Division, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA.
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Ward J, Reynolds RJ, Connell E, Anton W, Kabeel A, Charvat JM, Nartey N, Marotta K, Abukmail A, Buckland DM, Van Baalen M, Antonsen E. Levels of evidence for human system risk evaluation. NPJ Microgravity 2024; 10:33. [PMID: 38509136 PMCID: PMC10954631 DOI: 10.1038/s41526-024-00372-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2023] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
NASA uses a continuous risk management process to seek out new knowledge of spaceflight-induced risk to human health and performance. The evidence base that informs the risk assessments in this domain is constantly changing as more information is gleaned from a continuous human presence in space and from ongoing research. However, the limitations of this evidence are difficult to characterize because fewer than 700 humans have ever flown in space, and information comes from a variety of sources that span disciplines, including engineering, medicine, food and nutrition, and many other life sciences. The Human System Risk Board (HSRB) at NASA is responsible for assessing risk to astronauts and communicating this risk to agency decision-makers. A critical part of that communication is conveying the uncertainty regarding the understanding of the changes that spaceflight induces in human processes and the complex interactions between humans and the spacecraft. Although the strength of evidence grades is common in the academic literature, these scores are often not useful for the problems of human spaceflight. The HSRB continues to update the processes used to report the levels of evidence. This paper describes recent updates to the methods used to assign the level of evidence scores to the official risk postures and to the causal diagrams used by the HSRB.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Ward
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Kristina Marotta
- NASA Pathways Intern, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | | | | | | | - Erik Antonsen
- Department of Emergency Medicine, Center for Space Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA
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Antonsen E, Reynolds RJ, Charvat J, Connell E, Monti A, Petersen D, Nartey N, Anton W, Abukmail A, Marotta K, Van Baalen M, Buckland DM. Causal diagramming for assessing human system risk in spaceflight. NPJ Microgravity 2024; 10:32. [PMID: 38503732 PMCID: PMC10951288 DOI: 10.1038/s41526-024-00375-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
For over a decade, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has tracked and configuration-managed approximately 30 risks that affect astronaut health and performance before, during and after spaceflight. The Human System Risk Board (HSRB) at NASA Johnson Space Center is responsible for setting the official risk posture for each of the human system risks and determining-based on evaluation of the available evidence-when that risk posture changes. The ultimate purpose of tracking and researching these risks is to find ways to reduce spaceflight-induced risk to astronauts. The adverse effects of spaceflight begin at launch and continue throughout the duration of the mission, and in some cases, across the lifetime of the astronaut. Historically, research has been conducted in individual risk "silos" to characterize risk, however, astronauts are exposed to all risks simultaneously. In January of 2020, the HSRB at NASA began assessing the potential value of causal diagramming as a tool to facilitate understanding of the complex causes and effects that contribute to spaceflight-induced human system risk. Causal diagrams in the form of directed acyclic graphs (DAGs) are used to provide HSRB stakeholders with a shared mental model of the causal flow of risk. While primarily improving communication among those stakeholders, DAGs also allow a composite risk network to be created that can be tracked and configuration managed. This paper outlines the HSRB's pilot process for this effort, the lessons learned, and future goals for data-driven risk management approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Antonsen
- Center for Space Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Daniel M Buckland
- NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, USA
- Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
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Sarma MS, Shelhamer M. The human biology of spaceflight. Am J Hum Biol 2024; 36:e24048. [PMID: 38337152 PMCID: PMC10940193 DOI: 10.1002/ajhb.24048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Revised: 01/29/2024] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 02/12/2024] Open
Abstract
To expand the human exploration footprint and reach Mars in the 2030s, we must explore how humans survive and thrive in demanding, unusual, and novel ecologies (i.e., extreme environments). In the extreme conditions encountered during human spaceflight, there is a need to understand human functioning and response in a more rigorous theoretically informed way. Current models of human performance in space-relevant environments and human space science are often operationally focused, with emphasis on acute physiological or behavioral outcomes. However, integrating current perspectives in human biology allows for a more holistic and complete understanding of how humans function over a range of time in an extreme environment. Here, we show how the use of evolution-informed frameworks (i.e., models of life history theory to organize the adaptive pressures of spaceflight and biocultural perspectives) coupled with the use of mixed-methodological toolkits can shape models that better encompass the scope of biobehavioral human adjustment to long-duration space travel and extra-terrestrial habitation. Further, we discuss how we can marry human biology perspectives with the rigorous programmatic structures developed for spaceflight to model other unknown and nascent extremes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mallika S. Sarma
- Human Spaceflight Lab, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21215
| | - Mark Shelhamer
- Human Spaceflight Lab, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21215
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Sanders LM, Scott RT, Yang JH, Qutub AA, Garcia Martin H, Berrios DC, Hastings JJA, Rask J, Mackintosh G, Hoarfrost AL, Chalk S, Kalantari J, Khezeli K, Antonsen EL, Babdor J, Barker R, Baranzini SE, Beheshti A, Delgado-Aparicio GM, Glicksberg BS, Greene CS, Haendel M, Hamid AA, Heller P, Jamieson D, Jarvis KJ, Komarova SV, Komorowski M, Kothiyal P, Mahabal A, Manor U, Mason CE, Matar M, Mias GI, Miller J, Myers JG, Nelson C, Oribello J, Park SM, Parsons-Wingerter P, Prabhu RK, Reynolds RJ, Saravia-Butler A, Saria S, Sawyer A, Singh NK, Snyder M, Soboczenski F, Soman K, Theriot CA, Van Valen D, Venkateswaran K, Warren L, Worthey L, Zitnik M, Costes SV. Biological research and self-driving labs in deep space supported by artificial intelligence. NAT MACH INTELL 2023. [DOI: 10.1038/s42256-023-00618-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/28/2023]
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Theotokis P, Manthou ME, Deftereou TE, Miliaras D, Meditskou S. Addressing Spaceflight Biology through the Lens of a Histologist-Embryologist. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:life13020588. [PMID: 36836946 PMCID: PMC9965490 DOI: 10.3390/life13020588] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Revised: 02/09/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 02/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Embryogenesis and fetal development are highly delicate and error-prone processes in their core physiology, let alone if stress-associated factors and conditions are involved. Space radiation and altered gravity are factors that could radically affect fertility and pregnancy and compromise a physiological organogenesis. Unfortunately, there is a dearth of information examining the effects of cosmic exposures on reproductive and proliferating outcomes with regard to mammalian embryonic development. However, explicit attention has been given to investigations exploring discrete structures and neural networks such as the vestibular system, an entity that is viewed as the sixth sense and organically controls gravity beginning with the prenatal period. The role of the gut microbiome, a newly acknowledged field of research in the space community, is also being challenged to be added in forthcoming experimental protocols. This review discusses the data that have surfaced from simulations or actual space expeditions and addresses developmental adaptations at the histological level induced by an extraterrestrial milieu.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paschalis Theotokis
- Laboratory of Histology and Embryology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Maria Eleni Manthou
- Laboratory of Histology and Embryology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | | | - Dimosthenis Miliaras
- Laboratory of Histology and Embryology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Soultana Meditskou
- Laboratory of Histology and Embryology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
- Correspondence:
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Translation from Microgravity Research to Earth Application. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms231910995. [PMID: 36232297 PMCID: PMC9569622 DOI: 10.3390/ijms231910995] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2022] [Revised: 09/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/16/2022] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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