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NASA NTRS · 20050000525

Space flight and the immune system

Cogoli, A.
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Abstract

Depression of lymphocyte response to mitogens in cosmonauts after space flight was reported for the first time in the early 1970s by Soviet immunologists. Today we know that depression of lymphocyte function affects at least 50% of space crew members. Investigations on the ground on subjects undergoing physical and psychological stress indicate that stress is a major factor in immune depression of astronauts. This is despite the fact that weightlessness per se has a strong inhibitory effect on lymphocyte activation in vitro. Although the changes observed never harmed the health of astronauts, immunological changes must be seriously investigated and understood in view of long-duration flight on space stations in an Earth orbit, to other planets such as Mars and to the Moon.

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NASA Discipline Regulatory PhysiologySkylab ProjectFlight ExperimentCosmos ProjectNASA Program Flightlong durationSalyut Projectunmannedshort durationSTS Shuttle ProjectmannedNASA Discipline Number 00-00Non-NASA CenterApollo ProjectImmune System/immunologySpace FlightLymphocytes/physiologyLymphocyte ActivationImmune ToleranceHumanCells, CulturedUSSRMuramidase/bloodImmunoglobulins/bloodAnimalsUnited StatesLeukocyte Count

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Cogoli, A.. 1993-01-01. Space flight and the immune system. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20050000525

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