Toward the development of health evaluation methods during spaceflight - the effect on skin and bone

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K11550
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 59020:Sports sciences-related
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: Terada Masahiro 京都大学, 宇宙総合学研究ユニット, 特定准教授 (10553422)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 宇宙滞在 / 体毛 / 骨 / 電磁波

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the limited living space of space stays, it is difficult to conduct medical examinations and monitor health conditions as on Earth. Therefore, it is important to develop a diagnostic method that is less invasive and can be analyzed easily. Therefore, we performed pseudo-hibernation (a treatment to artificially lower the body temperature) assuming a stay in space, and measured the mineral content of body hair and bone mass. As a result, although differences were observed in several types of mineral elements in body hair, bone loss did not occur. In addition, assuming a stay in space, we irradiated electromagnetic waves and analyzed the behavior of mice. As for mouse behavior, the longer the electromagnetic wave irradiation period, the longer the distance of movement and the more active the mouse. In addition, the group exposed to electromagnetic waves tended to prefer to stay in a bright place rather than in a dark place.

Free Research Field

宇宙医学、宇宙生物学、宇宙生命科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

宇宙滞在という制限された生活空間では、地上のように健康診断や健康状態をモニタリングするのは難しい。そのため、被験者に侵襲性が少なく簡便に解析できる診断手法の開発が重要である。これまでの多くの研究では特定の組織・器官への影響を調べているが、異なる組織・器官の相互的な影響を詳しく検討した研究はそれほど多くない。そのため、本研究は診断方法の開発という臨床応用へ貢献できるだけでなく、より基礎的な生命体の内部相互作用を解明できる可能性がある。