Effect of Microgravity Environment on Gut Microbiome and Angiogenesis

Abstract

Microgravity environments are known to cause a plethora of stressors to astronauts. Recently, it has become apparent that gut microbiome composition of astronauts is altered following space travel, and this is of significance given the important role of the gut microbiome in human health. Other changes observed in astronauts comprise reduced muscle strength and bone fragility, visual impairment, endothelial dysfunction, metabolic changes, behavior changes due to fatigue or stress and effects on mental well-being. However, the effects of microgravity on angiogenesis, as well as the connection with the gut microbiome are incompletely understood. Here, the potential association of angiogenesis with visual impairment, skeletal muscle and gut microbiome is proposed and explored. Furthermore, metabolites that are effectors of angiogenesis are deliberated upon along with their connection with gut bacterial metabolites. Targeting and modulating the gut microbiome may potentially have a profound influence on astronaut health, given its impact on overall human health, which is thus warranted given the likelihood of increased human activity in the solar system, and the determination to travel to Mars in future missions.

Exploitation of Skin Microbiota in Wound Healing: Perspectives During Space Missions

“…It is reasonable to assume that the gut-skin and gut-brain axes biochemical signalling could also affect wound healing in Space, having a profound influence on astronaut health (Siddiqui et al, 2021). Further studies must be completed.…”

“…Skin microorganisms can provide protection from pathogens through modulation of antimicrobials (Tomic-Canic et al, 2020). It is urgent to better understand the crosstalk of the skin microbiota and the immune system in Space, as it is difficult to disentangle the components of microgravity, space radiations, stress, and the effect of the microbiota itself (Siddiqui et al, 2021). Exposure to microgravity during Space flights produces immunosuppression, and this can lead to dysbiosis or ill-states (Spatz et al, 2021).…”

From Cultured Vascular Cells to Vessels: The Cellular and Molecular Basis of Vascular Dysfunction in Space

“…This disappointing result might be due to the altered intestinal absorption reported in space ( Yang et al, 2020 ) and to inter-individual variability, an issue that might be overcome by a personalized approach. Also targeting the gut microbiome, which is linked to food intake, with specifically designed probiotics or dietary supplements, could be useful, also in the light of an altered composition and function of the microbiome in space ( Turroni et al, 2020 ; Siddiqui et al, 2021 ). Furthermore, gut microbes seem to control intestinal release of satiety hormones and directly stimulate central appetite pathways ( Covasa et al, 2019 ) ( Figure 4 ).…”

Cockroaches: a potential source of novel bioactive molecule(s) for the benefit of human health

“…Accordingly, it is plausible to suggest that cockroaches represent a rich and diverse source of novel molecules with biological activity originating either in their tissues or their gut microbiome contributing to their overall health and resilience (Akbar et al 2018 ; Ali et al 2017 ; Moshaeb et al 2018 ). Several studies indicate the significance of the gut microbiome and its role in the overall health and immunity of the host (Malard et al 2021 ; Siddiqui et al 2021a , b , c ; Zheng et al 2020 ). Cockroaches represent an ideal organism for studying gut microbiome composition as well as host microbial interactions, as they have evolved to host a multifaceted gut microbiome comprising several species of microbes (Tinker and Otteson 2021 ).…”