Microgravity and Spaceflight: New Insights and Potential Defense Strategies

Dear Colleagues,

The conquest of the space environment, as well as the colonization of new planets, represents the future challenge facing humanity. However, exposure to real and simulated microgravity is known to cause several physiological alterations, including loss of bone and muscle mass, cognitive deficits, sleep and mood disturbances, as well as alterations in the immune system, making it necessary to deepen knowledge regarding biological responses to weightlessness. Therefore, the study of the underlying molecular mechanisms could be the cornerstone for space exploration and provide greater insight into the response of the human body in a gravity-free environment. For this reason, the use of instruments on Earth that reproduce the biological effects of microgravity to date represents an invaluable research strategy that can provide new scientific evidence on physiological adaptations to zero gravity. Indeed, numerous physiological changes induced by weightlessness, such as musculoskeletal and cognitive disorders, are also commonly found in individuals constrained to a sedentary lifestyle, suggesting the extraordinary power of physical activity in preventing such disorders.

Identifying potential strategies to counter the impact of spaceflight on human biology is a primary goal of research in this field, as it could provide valuable aid to space exploration. In addition, the discovery of innovative countermeasures could represent a turning point for the treatment of numerous conditions characterized by allurement and/or prolonged sedentariness, laying the foundation for the development of cutting-edge therapeutic approaches. Exercise, the use of antioxidants, as well as the administration of substances with osteo-inductive power, are just some of the options for defending against weightlessness that have been explored so far. More research effort is needed in order to identify effective and safe tools that can preserve physical structure and function in space.

Therefore, this special issue aims to gather recent scientific evidence regarding the effects of exposure to real and simulated microgravity and to identify potential innovative strategies to counteract the severe physiological alterations that characterize weightlessness, allurement, and prolonged sedentary living.

Dr. Ida Cariati
Dr. Virginia Tancredi
Guest Editors

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