A Longitudinal Epigenetic Aging and Leukocyte Analysis of Simulated Space Travel: The Mars-500 Mission

Nwanaji‐Enwerem, Jamaji C.; Nwanaji-Enwerem, Uzoji; Laan, Lars van der; Galazka, Jonathan M.; Redeker, Nancy S.

doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108406

Cited by 28 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…The presence of sampling points before the isolation period could have enhanced our understanding of these personalized dynamics by setting up a “baseline microbiota” for each crewmember. Unfortunately, as for the other experiments done within Mars500 mission (see for instance [ 16 , 17 , 26 – 28 ]) due to the military nature of the Mars500 experiment, no sample of crewmembers before the mission was taken/made available, limiting our discussions to the isolation period itself. Other studies based on the Mars500 mission had the same experimental design but came to slightly different conclusions probably due to different human districts sampled.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the resilience of the human salivary microbiota by a 520-day longitudinal study in a confined environment: the Mars500 mission

et al. 2021

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Background The human microbiota plays several roles in health and disease but is often difficult to determine which part is in intimate relationships with the host vs. the occasional presence. During the Mars500 mission, six crewmembers lived completely isolated from the outer world for 520 days following standardized diet regimes. The mission constitutes the first spaceflight simulation to Mars and was a unique experiment to determine, in a longitudinal study design, the composition and importance of the resident vs. a more variable microbiota—the fraction of the human microbiota that changes in time and according to environmental conditions—in humans. Methods Here, we report the characterization of the salivary microbiota from 88 samples taken during and after Mars500 mission for a total of 720 days. Amplicon sequencing of the V3–V4 regions of 16S rRNA gene was performed, and results were analyzed monitoring the diversity of the microbiota while evaluating the effect of the three main variables present in the experimental system: time, diet, and individuality of each subject. Results Results showed statistically significant effects for either time, diet, and individuality of each subject. The main contribution came from the individuality of each subject, emphasizing salivary microbiota-personalized features, and an individual-based resilience of the microbiota. Conclusions The uniqueness of Mars500 mission, allowed to dampen the effect of environmental variables on salivary microbiota, highlighting its pronounced personalization even after sharing the same physical space for more than a year.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the resilience of the human salivary microbiota by a 520-day longitudinal study in a confined environment: the Mars500 mission

et al. 2021

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“…Unfortunately, as for the other experiments done within Mars500 mission (see for instance [16,17,[26][27][28]) due to the military nature of the Mars500 experiment, no sample of crewmembers before the mission was taken/made available, limiting our discussions to the isolation period itself. Other studies based on the Mars500 mission had the same experimental design but came to slightly different conclusions probably due to different human districts sampled.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining the resilience of the human salivary microbiota by a 520 days longitudinal study in confined environment: the Mars500 mission

Fani¹,

Bacci

Mengoni

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Background The human microbiota plays several roles in health and disease but is often difficult to determine which part is in intimate relationships with the host vs. the occasional presence. During the Mars500 mission, six crewmembers lived completely isolated from the outer world for 520 days following standardized diet regimes. The mission constitutes the first spaceflight simulation to Mars and was a unique experiment to determine, in a longitudinal study design, the composition and importance of the resident vs. a more variable microbiota—the fraction of the human microbiota that changes in time and according to environmental conditions—in humans.Methods Here we report the characterization of the salivary microbiota from 88 samples taken during and after Mars500 mission for a total of 720 days. Amplicon sequencing of the V3-V4 region of 16S rRNA gene was performed and results were analyzed monitoring the diversity of the microbiota while evaluating the effect of the three main variables present in the experimental system: time, diet, and individuality of each subject.Results Results, showed statistically significant effects for either time, diet, and individuality of each subject. The main contribution came from the individuality of each subject, emphasizing salivary microbiota personalized features and an individual-based resilience of the microbiota.Conclusions The uniqueness of Mars500 mission, allowed to clearly dissect the environmental variables of salivary microbiota, highlighting its pronounced personalization even after sharing the same physical space for more than a year.

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“…Because telomere length is considered a marker of cellular aging, aging being usually associated with decreased telomere length 9 , 10 , the NASA twin study suggests a possible anti-aging effect of long-duration space travel. Another study on blood DNA methylation of six participants of the Mars-500 mission, a high-fidelity 520-day ground simulation experiment, showed that mission duration was associated with significant decreases in epigenetic aging at the 168- and 300-day time points 11 . DNA methylation, including DNAmPhenoAge, is a robust predictor of mortality risk that is also highly correlated with chronological age 11 , 12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another study on blood DNA methylation of six participants of the Mars-500 mission, a high-fidelity 520-day ground simulation experiment, showed that mission duration was associated with significant decreases in epigenetic aging at the 168- and 300-day time points 11 . DNA methylation, including DNAmPhenoAge, is a robust predictor of mortality risk that is also highly correlated with chronological age 11 , 12 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Astronauts well-being and possibly anti-aging improved during long-duration spaceflight

Otsuka

Cornélissen

Furukawa

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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This study assesses how circadian rhythms of heart rate (HR), HR variability (HRV) and activity change during long-term missions in space and how they relate to sleep quality. Ambulatory 48-h ECG and 96-h actigraphy were performed four times on ten healthy astronauts (44.7 ± 6.9 years; 9 men): 120.4 ± 43.7 days (Before) launch; 21.1 ± 2.5 days (ISS01) and 143.0 ± 27.1 days (ISS02) after launch; and 86.6 ± 40.6 days (After) return to Earth. Sleep quality was determined by sleep-related changes in activity, RR-intervals, HRV HF- and VLF-components and LF-band. The circadian amplitude of HR (HR-A) was larger in space (ISS01: 12.54, P = 0.0099; ISS02: 12.77, P = 0.0364) than on Earth (Before: 10.90; After: 10.55 bpm). Sleep duration in space (ISS01/ISS02) increased in 3 (Group A, from 370.7 to 388.0/413.0 min) and decreased in 7 (Group B, from 454.0 to 408.9/381.6 min) astronauts. Sleep quality improved in Group B from 7.07 to 8.36 (ISS01) and 9.36 (ISS02, P = 0.0001). Sleep-related parasympathetic activity increased from 55.2% to 74.8% (pNN50, P = 0.0010) (ISS02). HR-A correlated with the 24-h (r = 0.8110, P = 0.0044), 12-h (r = 0.6963, P = 0.0253), and 48-h (r = 0.6921, P = 0.0266) amplitudes of the magnetic declination index. These findings suggest associations of mission duration with increased well-being and anti-aging benefitting from magnetic fluctuations.

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A Longitudinal Epigenetic Aging and Leukocyte Analysis of Simulated Space Travel: The Mars-500 Mission

Cited by 28 publications

References 37 publications

Defining the resilience of the human salivary microbiota by a 520-day longitudinal study in a confined environment: the Mars500 mission

Defining the resilience of the human salivary microbiota by a 520-day longitudinal study in a confined environment: the Mars500 mission

Defining the resilience of the human salivary microbiota by a 520 days longitudinal study in confined environment: the Mars500 mission

Astronauts well-being and possibly anti-aging improved during long-duration spaceflight

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