Key result
Six months of space flight does not alter early vascular aging biomarkers compared to baseline.
Why the study?
Space environmental conditions, including cosmic radiation, decreased mobility, altered glucose metabolism, and hemodynamic changes, may promote cardiovascular disease.
Does a six-month space mission alter early vascular ageing biomarkers and hemodynamics in cosmonauts?
Observational (n=8)
Does a six-month space mission alter early vascular ageing biomarkers and hemodynamics in cosmonauts?
Absolute Event Rate: 7.2% vs 6.7%
p-value: p=0.499
A six-month mission in near-earth orbit does not lead to clinically significant changes in early vascular ageing biomarkers in cosmonauts.
Supports no major early vascular aging signal after spaceflight; hypothesis-generating for longer or deep-space missions.
PURPOSE: The environmental conditions in space, particularly exposure to cosmic radiation, coupled with decreased mobility, altered glucose metabolism, and hemodynamic changes may promote cardiovascular disease Therefore, we assessed early vascular aging markers and hemodynamics using a novel oscillometric blood pressure device. METHODOLOGY: In eight cosmonauts (46.5 ± 5.3 yrs, 77.6 ± 8.2 kg, 176 ± 6.2 cm, 7 men/1woman), we determined heart rate, peripheral blood pressure, central blood pressure, and pulse wave velocity in the supine position using an oscillometric brachial device coupled with transfer function analysis. We obtained measurements at baseline (65-90 days before flight) and four days (R+4) and eight days (R+8) after return from six months mission onboard the International Space Station. RESULTS: Compared to baseline, heart rate increased significantly on R+4 (58.6 ± 6.4 vs. 70.3 ± 5.2 bpm) but did not differ on R+8. Central systolic blood pressure increased from 112.5 ± 13.5 on baseline to 125.6 ± 18.5 on R+4 and 121.6 ± 9.5 mmHg, albeit showing no statistical significance compared to baseline (p = 0.243/0.295). Peripheral diastolic and systolic as well as central diastolic blood pressure measurements followed this trend. Pulse wave velocity increased non-significantly from baseline (6.7 ± 0.8 m/s) to R+4 (7.2 ± 0.8 m/s, p = 0.499) and stayed elevated on R+8 (7.1 ± 0.5 m/s, p = 0.614). CONCLUSION: The important finding of our study is that six months in a near-earth orbit do not lead to clinically significant changes in early vascular ageing biomarkers. However, these findings cannot be extrapolated to the conditions encountered in deep space. Non-invasive testing of vascular biomarkers may have utility in detecting vascular risks during space travel at an early stage.
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Hoffmann et al. (2019) conducted an observational in Healthy cosmonauts (n=8). Six months space flight onboard the International Space Station vs. Baseline (65-90 days before flight) was evaluated on Pulse wave velocity at 4 days post-return (p=0.499). Six months of space flight in near-earth orbit did not significantly alter early vascular aging biomarkers such as pulse wave velocity (7.2 m/s at 4 days post-return vs 6.7 m/s at baseline; p=0.499).
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