By Laura Husband
Astronauts may have problems with immune deficiencies while in space, a new study has found.
The study carried out at the University of Arizona in the US with mice found that weightlessness during spaceflight caused changes to genes that controlled an immune and stress response.
“Our results hint at the possibility that an astronaut’s immune system might be compromised in space,” said immunobiologist and lead researcher Ty Lesback.
Weightlessness during spaceflight causes a change to the immune system that can make astronauts ill. Image credit: NASA
The thymus gland, which plays a key part in the immune system, was compared in four mice who spent 13 days in a space shuttle with four mice who remained on the ground.
All four mice that spent time in space were found to have changes in the same 12 genes within the thymus tissue.
“The altered genes we observed were found to primarily affect signaling molecules that play roles in programmed cell death and regulate how the body responds to stress,” explained Lesback.
Programmed cell death has an important function. But cell death needs to be tightly regulated in the immune system for the process to run smoothly.
“Potentially you could get more cell death aboard a spacecraft because many of the gene changes resulted in down-regulated changes that are needed to maintain the balance,” said Lesback.
The activity levels of thousands of genes in thymus tissue from the space-flown mice and the control group had to be compared and analysed.
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