The Potential Influence of the Microbiota and Probiotics on Women during Long Spaceflights

Abstract

Humans have been exploring space for almost 55 years but space travel comes with many psychological and physiological changes that astronauts have to adapt to, both during and post flight missions. Now, with the reality of such missions lasting years, maintaining proper health of the flight crew is a high priority. While conditions such as nausea, bone loss, renal calculi and depression have been recognized, and approaches to medical and surgical care in space considered, the influence of the microbiota could be of added significance in maintaining astronaut health. While probiotics have long been part of the Russian cosmonaut diet, their use for specific health concerns of women has not been assessed. In this article, we explore the ways in which the microbiome may influence the health of female astronauts during long space flights, and present a rationale for the use of probiotics.

Shelf Life and Simulated Gastrointestinal Tract Survival of Selected Commercial Probiotics During a Simulated Round-Trip Journey to Mars

“…Several articles in the scientific literature have advocated for the use of probiotics as a potential countermeasure for maintaining astronaut health during long-term missions into deep space (Saei and Barzegari, 2012;Urbaniak and Reid, 2016;Douglas and Voorhies, 2017;Turroni et al, 2020). However, regarding actual research reports assessing the stability and efficacy of probiotic supplementation in astronauts, the literature is sparse.…”

The influence of spaceflight on the astronaut salivary microbiome and the search for a microbiome biomarker for viral reactivation

“…The importance of the human microbiome in health promotion is just as relevant to astronauts and perhaps even more so, as medical procedures and facilities are limited during spaceflight. As of 2018, there have been 557 astronauts/cosmonauts that have flown to outer space with well-documented physiological and immunological issues, such as bone loss, muscle atrophy, fatigue, elevated cortisol levels, nausea, skin/urinary tract/upperrespiratory tract infections, and impaired innate/adaptive immunity [13][14][15]. However, data is still limited on how the human microbiome, which plays an integral role in human health, is impacted by spaceflight and whether changes in the astronaut microbiome contribute to the conditions experienced by many astronauts.…”

Increased growth rate and amikacin resistance of Salmonella enteritidis after one‐month spaceflight on China’s Shenzhou‐11 spacecraft

“…It has been observed that spaceflight could compromise the balance between the human body and human microbiome, induce the immune dysregulation of astronauts, and finally increase the risk for microbial infections (Cervantes & Hong, ). Some recent studies indicated that space travel changed the human microbiota, which modulated the risks of various health conditions, and probiotic interventions might help to reduce the risks of infectious diseases as well as immune dysfunction during spaceflight (Douglas & Voorhies, ; Urbaniak & Reid, ). Therefore, monitoring changes in microorganisms in the space environment is beneficial for preventing and curing infectious diseases (Liu, ).…”