Unveiling Parkinson's Disease-like Changes Triggered by Spaceflight

2024/08/25 by Nilufar Ali, Afshin Beheshti, Ali, Nilufar +3
Medicine · #FOS: Biological sciences #Other Quantitative Biology (q-bio.OT) #Spaceflight effects on biology

paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2408.15021

openalex publication_date 2024/08/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

A meta-analysis of spaceflight data from both mouse and human flights reveals a striking overlap with Parkinson's disease (PD). Parallels include: changes in gait, loss of dopamine, sustained changes in the basal ganglia, loss of tyrosine hydroxylase in the substantia nigra, and systemic mitochondrial dysfunction. We identified specific Parkinson's genes differentially expressed post-spaceflight. These evidences indicate that spaceflight stressor-induced changes in the brain may become permanent during deep space exploration, posing a risk of PD in astronauts

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