Space travel can cause shifts in the gut that might suppress the immune system of astronauts and affect their metabolism, according to a study.
The findings help understand how space missions of long durations could affect health of astronauts, researchers said.
Using genetic technologies, a team of researchers, led by those at Canada's McGill University, analysed changes in the guts, colons and livers of mice onboard the International Space Station or the ISS over a period of three months.
An international collaboration of NASA and other space agencies, the ISS is a spacecraft in the Earth's orbit. It is a unique science lab and serves as a "home where crews of astronauts" live, according to the NASA.
The authors found significant shifts in gut bacteria that indicated changes in the mice's liver and intestinal genes, suggesting that spaceflight might suppress the immune system and alter metabolism.
"These interactions suggest disruption of the signals, metabolites, and immune factors exchanged across the gut-liver axis which are likely to drive glucose and lipid (fat) dysregulation," the authors wrote in the study published in the journal npj Biofilms and Microbiomes.
"Collectively, these multiomic findings suggest host-gut microbiome interactions during spaceflight are likely to underlie widespread changes to host physiology which could pose a risk to health," they wrote.
The researchers said the study's results can help develop safeguards and ensure success of future space missions, from establishing a long-term presence on the Moon to sending humans to Mars.
"Spaceflight extensively alters astronauts' bodies, yet we still don't fully understand why. By using advanced techniques to study both gut bacteria and genes at the same time, we're beginning to see patterns that could explain those changes and help us develop safeguards for future missions," lead author Emmanuel Gonzalez from the McGill University said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Featured Video Of The Day
Pune Couple Stops To Eat Vada Pav, Thief Steals Their 5 Lakh Jewellery
Elon Musk's Space X To Restart Falcon 9 Launch After Landing Mishap Kalpana Chawla's Death Weighed On NASA In Sunita Williams Decision NASA Researcher to Study Gravity’s Impact on Plants Aboard Blue Origin's Suborbital Rocket Celebrated "Russian Spy" Whale Hvaldimir Found Dead In Norway: Report INDIA's "Hit With Footwear" Protest In Mumbai Over Shivaji Statue Collapse Nurse Molested By Patient During Late Night Shift At West Bengal Hospital Synthetic Food Colours, Expired Food Items And More Found At Restaurants In Sainikpuri Royal Enfield Launches New Revit All-Weather Gear In India Houthi Rebels Say They Attacked Merchant Ship Off Yemen Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.