Page 157 - International Space Station Benefits for Humanity, 3rd edition.

Interdisciplinary Approach to Human
Health: Preventing Bone Loss in Space
Helps Health Promotion of the Elderly Space studies using mice have
on Earth shown that these animals experience
Along with human research on the ISS, long-term physiological changes similar to
experiments involving mammals in a microgravity
environment may inspire a novel insight into developing those in humans.
medical technologies to maintain sound health and
fitness to prevent bone loss in elderly people on Earth.
Space studies using mice have shown that these
animals experience physiological changes similar
to those in humans. The changes are accelerated in DNA of their offspring. This study reports on the effects
space. If an astronaut does not exercise sufficiently of artificial gravity from the on-orbit centrifuge on
in space, he or she loses bone density around tenfold maintaining muscle and bone health of the ISS mice.
faster than does an osteoporosis patient on Earth. Over an ISS duration of 35 days, mice that underwent
Calf muscle loss per day in space is equivalent to the artificial gravity exposure via regular continuous
loss in 2 days for a bedridden patient and 6 months centrifugation at a 1-g (Earth-simulated) level did
for the elderly on Earth. not display a significant decrease in soleus and
gastrocnemius muscle weight and bone loss, unlike
The primary goal in the Mouse Epigenetics, one of the mice on the ISS that received no centrifugation.
JAXA Mouse Habitat missions, is to study altered gene These findings provide results that will contribute
expression patterns in the organs of male mice that to an understanding of physiological changes
spend 1 month in space, as well as changes in the
associated with artificial gravity exposure when

The calculated cancellous
bone volume/tissue volume
The representative vertical (upper) and horizontal (lower) sectional (BV/TV, %) of the femurs of
microCT photos of the proximal region of the femur. Scale bars = 1 mm. AG, MG and GC mice.
AG: Artificial Gravity, MG: Microgravity, and GC: Ground Control. Image credit: Shiba et al,
Image credit: Shiba et al, Scientific Reports, 2017. Scientific Reports, 2017.

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