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Lung function is unchanged in the 1 G environment following 6-months exposure to microgravity

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Abstract

Many organ systems adapt in response to the removal of gravity, such as that occurring during spaceflight. Such adaptation occurs over varying time periods depending on the organ system being considered, but the effect is that upon a return to the normal 1 G environment, the organ system is ill-adapted to that environment. As a consequence, either countermeasures to the adaptive process in flight, or rehabilitation upon return to 1 G is required. To determine whether the lung changed in response to a long period without gravity, we studied numerous aspects of lung function on ten subjects (one female) before and after they were exposed to 4–6 months of microgravity (μG, weightlessness) in the normobaric normoxic environment of the International Space Station. With the exception of small (and likely physiologically inconsequential) changes in expiratory reserve volume, one index of peripheral gas mixing in the periphery of the lung, and a possible slight reduction in DLCO in the early postflight period despite an unchanged cardiac output, lung function was unaltered by 4–6 months in μG. These results suggest that unlike many other organ systems in the human body, lung function returns to normal after long term exposure to the removal of gravity. We conclude that that in a normoxic, normobaric environment, lung function is not a concern following long-duration future spaceflight exploration missions of up to 6 months.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation and efforts of the ISS crew on increments 3, 4, 5, and 6 and the numerous NASA personnel and NASA contractors supporting those increments. In particular, we thank Suzanne McCollum, Gwenn Sandoz and Charlie Williamson for operational support, and John Ludlow for extensive data analysis work. This study was supported by NASA contract NAS9-98124 and NASA cooperative agreement NCC9-168.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Physiology, Department of Medicine, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, 92093-0931, La Jolla, San Diego, CA, USA

    G. Kim Prisk, Janelle M. Fine, Trevor K. Cooper & John B. West

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  1. G. Kim Prisk
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  2. Janelle M. Fine
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  3. Trevor K. Cooper
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  4. John B. West
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Correspondence to G. Kim Prisk.

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Prisk, G.K., Fine, J.M., Cooper, T.K. et al. Lung function is unchanged in the 1 G environment following 6-months exposure to microgravity. Eur J Appl Physiol 103, 617–623 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-008-0754-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-008-0754-2

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