Abstract
The paper describes the main stages of the protocol and results of a unique 21-day experiment undertaken at the Russian Federation State Research Center Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) (IBMP) under the conditions of Dry Immersion. A cohort of participants consisted of 10 healthy male volunteers (the mean age 29.3 ± 3.56 years). The experiment has demonstrated the feasibility and safety of conducting long-duration immersion exposures, confirming the results obtained during previous shorter exposures, as well as allowed us to describe the dynamics of events during extended chronic stays in the conditions of simulated hypogravity. The accumulated experiences are useful for further research into the efficiency of applying the conditions of simulated microgravity and other prophylactic means as countermeasures against negative effects occurring to human body during extended support and weight unloading.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Gazenko, O.G., Genin, A.M., and Malkin, V.B., Weightlessness is under study on Earth, Nauka Zhizn, 1972, no. 4, pp. 92–97.
Shul’zhenko, E.B. and Vil’-Vil’yams, I.F., Imitation of organism deconditioning by the dry immersion method, Materialy X Chtenii K.E. Tsiolkovskogo (Proc. X Tsiolkovsky’s Biennial Meeting), Kaluga, 1975, pp. 39–47.
Tomilovskaya, E.S., Shigueva, T.A., Sayenko, D.G., et al., Dry immersion as a ground-based model of microgravity physiological effects, Front. Physiol., 2019, vol. 10, p. 284. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2019.00284
Kakurin, L.I., Effects of limited muscle activity on physiological systems of the organism, Kosm. Biol. Med., 1968, vol. 2, no. 2, pp. 59–71.
Godichnaya antiortostaticheskaya gipokineziya (ANOG) – fiziologicheskaya model’ mezhplanetarnogo kosmicheskogo poleta: Monografiya (One-Year Antiorthostatic Hypokinesia (ANOG): Physiological Model of Interplanetary Space Flight: Monograph), Grigor’ev, A.I. and Kozlovskaya I.B., Eds., Moscow, 2018.
Genin, A.M. and Sorokin, P.A., Long term limitation of physical activity as a model of weightlessness effects on human organism, in Problemy kosmicheskoi biologii (Problems of Space Biology), Moscow, 1969, vol. 13, pp. 9–16.
Beckman, E.L., Koburn, K.R., Chambers, R.M., et al., Physiologic changes observed in human subjects during zero G-simulation by immersion in water up to neck level, Aerospace Med., 1961, vol. 32, pp. 1031–1041.
Graveline, D.E., Balke, B., Mckenzie, R.E., and Hartman, B., Psychological effects of water-immersion induced hypodynamia, Aerospace Med., 1961, vol. 32, pp. 387–440.
Ovsyannikov, A.V., Peculiarities of motor reorganizations in human in water immersion, Fisiol. Zh., 1972, no. 3, pp. 305–310.
Vil’-Vil’yams, I.F. and Shul’zhenko, E.B. Heart arrhythmias under overloadings +Gz after immersion, Kosm. Biol. Aviakosm. Med., 1978, vol. 12, no. 5, pp. 50–56.
Shul’zhenko, E.B., Physiological effects of changed gravity (model experiments in model conditions), Doctoral (Med.) Dissertation, Moscow, 1975.
Shul’zhenko, E.B. and Vil’-Vil’yams, I.F., Possibility of long-term water immersion by the method of “dry” immersion, Kosm. Biol. Aviakosm. Med., 1976, vol. 10, no. 9, pp. 82–84.
Shul’zhenko, E.B. and Vil’-Vil’yams, I.F., Reactions of cardio-vascular system under conditions of 56-day immersion in the complex with countermeasure means, Materialy XI Chtenii K.E. Tsiolkovskogo (Proc. XI Tsiolkovsky’s Biennial Meeting), Kaluga, 1976, pp. 153–159.
Grigor’ev, A.I., Oganov, V.S., Bakulin, A.V., et al., Clinical-physiological assessment of bone tissue changes in cosmonauts after long tern space flights, Aviakosm. Ekol. Med., 1998, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 21–25.
Oganov, V.S., Rachmanov, A.S., Novikov, V.E., et al., The state of human bone tissue during space flight, Acta Astronaut., 1991, vol. 23, pp. 247–266.
Afonin, B.V., Sedova, E.A., Goncharova, N.P., and Solov’eva, A.A., Evacuation function of gastrointestinal tract under conditions of 5-day immersion, Aviakosm. Ekol. Med., 2011, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 52–57.
Funding
The integrated immersion studies were supported by the Russian Academy of Sciences (topics 63.1, 63.2, 64.1, 65.1), by the projects of the Russian Science Foundation (nos. 19-15-00435 in the section of sensorimotor research and 18-7510086 under the section of immunological studies), and the RAS Presidium Basic Research Program for Biomedical Technologies (the project title: Basic Research for Technology of Disease Prophylaxis, Human Recovery and Targeted Increase of Resistance to Unfavorable Conditions) in the research section for visceral systems.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
COMPLIANCE WITH ETHICAL STANDARDS
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare no obvious and potential conflicts of interest related to the publication of this article.
INFORMED CONSENT
Each study participant provided a voluntary written informed consent signed after explanation of the potential risks and benefits, as well as the nature of the upcoming study.
Additional information
Translated by N. Tarasyuk
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tomilovskaya, E.S., Rukavishnikov, I.V., Amirova, L.E. et al. 21-Day Dry Immersion: Schedule of Investigations and Major Results. Hum Physiol 47, 735–743 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119721070112
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0362119721070112