Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during Spaceflight
Maintaining an astronaut’s health during space travel is crucial. Multiple studies have observed various changes in the gut microbiome and physiological health. Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) had changes in the microbial communities in their gut, nose, and skin. Additional...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2023-03-01
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| Series: | Life |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/3/727 |
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| author | Sahaj Bharindwal Nidhi Goswami Pamela Jha Siddharth Pandey Renitta Jobby |
| author_facet | Sahaj Bharindwal Nidhi Goswami Pamela Jha Siddharth Pandey Renitta Jobby |
| author_sort | Sahaj Bharindwal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Maintaining an astronaut’s health during space travel is crucial. Multiple studies have observed various changes in the gut microbiome and physiological health. Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) had changes in the microbial communities in their gut, nose, and skin. Additionally, immune system cell alterations have been observed in astronauts with changes in neutrophils, monocytes, and T-cells. Probiotics help tackle these health issues caused during spaceflight by inhibiting pathogen adherence, enhancing epithelial barrier function by reducing permeability, and producing an anti-inflammatory effect. When exposed to microgravity, probiotics demonstrated a shorter lag phase, faster growth, improved acid tolerance, and bile resistance. A freeze-dried <i>Lactobacillus casei</i> strain Shirota capsule was tested for its stability on ISS for a month and has been shown to enhance innate immunity and balance intestinal microbiota. The usage of freeze-dried spores of <i>B. subtilis</i> proves to be advantageous to long-term spaceflight because it qualifies for all the aspects tested for commercial probiotics under simulated conditions. These results demonstrate a need to further study the effect of probiotics in simulated microgravity and spaceflight conditions and to apply them to overcome the effects caused by gut microbiome dysbiosis and issues that might occur during spaceflight. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:17:26Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-98afb088414d4d63810195ca4279fda6 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2075-1729 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:17:26Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Life |
| spelling | doaj.art-98afb088414d4d63810195ca4279fda62023-11-17T12:11:31ZengMDPI AGLife2075-17292023-03-0113372710.3390/life13030727Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during SpaceflightSahaj Bharindwal0Nidhi Goswami1Pamela Jha2Siddharth Pandey3Renitta Jobby4Amity Centre of Excellence in Astrobiology, Amity University Mumbai, Mumbai 410206, Maharashtra, IndiaAmity Centre of Excellence in Astrobiology, Amity University Mumbai, Mumbai 410206, Maharashtra, IndiaSunandan Divatia School of Science, NMIMS University Mumbai, Mumbai 400056, Maharashtra, IndiaAmity Centre of Excellence in Astrobiology, Amity University Mumbai, Mumbai 410206, Maharashtra, IndiaAmity Centre of Excellence in Astrobiology, Amity University Mumbai, Mumbai 410206, Maharashtra, IndiaMaintaining an astronaut’s health during space travel is crucial. Multiple studies have observed various changes in the gut microbiome and physiological health. Astronauts on board the International Space Station (ISS) had changes in the microbial communities in their gut, nose, and skin. Additionally, immune system cell alterations have been observed in astronauts with changes in neutrophils, monocytes, and T-cells. Probiotics help tackle these health issues caused during spaceflight by inhibiting pathogen adherence, enhancing epithelial barrier function by reducing permeability, and producing an anti-inflammatory effect. When exposed to microgravity, probiotics demonstrated a shorter lag phase, faster growth, improved acid tolerance, and bile resistance. A freeze-dried <i>Lactobacillus casei</i> strain Shirota capsule was tested for its stability on ISS for a month and has been shown to enhance innate immunity and balance intestinal microbiota. The usage of freeze-dried spores of <i>B. subtilis</i> proves to be advantageous to long-term spaceflight because it qualifies for all the aspects tested for commercial probiotics under simulated conditions. These results demonstrate a need to further study the effect of probiotics in simulated microgravity and spaceflight conditions and to apply them to overcome the effects caused by gut microbiome dysbiosis and issues that might occur during spaceflight.https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/3/727astronautspaceflightprobioticsmicrobiomesimulated microgravity (SMG) |
| spellingShingle | Sahaj Bharindwal Nidhi Goswami Pamela Jha Siddharth Pandey Renitta Jobby Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during Spaceflight Life astronaut spaceflight probiotics microbiome simulated microgravity (SMG) |
| title | Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during Spaceflight |
| title_full | Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during Spaceflight |
| title_fullStr | Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during Spaceflight |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during Spaceflight |
| title_short | Prospective Use of Probiotics to Maintain Astronaut Health during Spaceflight |
| title_sort | prospective use of probiotics to maintain astronaut health during spaceflight |
| topic | astronaut spaceflight probiotics microbiome simulated microgravity (SMG) |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/13/3/727 |
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