Bevelacqua JJ, Welsh J, Mortazavi SMJ. On the immunological limitations of hibernation and synthetic torpor as a supporting technique for astronauts’ radioprotection in deep space missions. World J Immunol 2019; 9(1): 1-4 [DOI: 10.5411/wji.v9.i1.1]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi, PhD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Doss Lab (R-432), 333 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, United States. mortazavismj@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Immunology
Article-Type of This Article
Opinion Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Immunol. Dec 27, 2019; 9(1): 1-4 Published online Dec 27, 2019. doi: 10.5411/wji.v9.i1.1
On the immunological limitations of hibernation and synthetic torpor as a supporting technique for astronauts’ radioprotection in deep space missions
Joseph J Bevelacqua, James Welsh, Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi
Joseph J Bevelacqua, Bevelacqua Resources, Richland, WA 99352, United States
James Welsh, Department of Radiation Oncology, Loyola Stritch School of Medicine, Hines VA Hospital Chicago, Chicago, IL 60153, United States
Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz 7134845794, Iran
Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA 19111, United States
Author contributions: Mortazavi SMJ drafted the manuscript; all authors designed the research study; and all authors have revised and approved the final manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Seyed Mohammad Javad Mortazavi, PhD, Professor, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Fox Chase Cancer Center, Doss Lab (R-432), 333 Cottman Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19111, United States. mortazavismj@gmail.com
Received: March 11, 2019 Peer-review started: March 12, 2019 First decision: July 17, 2019 Revised: September 29, 2019 Accepted: December 13, 2019 Article in press: December 13, 2019 Published online: December 27, 2019
Abstract
Although human hibernation has been introduced as an effective technique in space exploration, there are concerns regarding the intrinsic risks of the approach (i.e., synthetic torpor) and other factors involved in this procedure. Besides concerns about the brain changes and the state of consciousness during hibernation, an "Achilles heel" of the hibernation is the negative impact of torpor on factors such as the number of circulating leukocytes, complement levels, response to lipopolysaccharides, phagocytotic capacity, cytokine production, lymphocyte proliferation, and antibody production. Moreover, increased virulence of bacteria in deep space can significantly increase the risk of infection. The increased infection risk during long-term space missions with the combined effects of radiation and microgravity affect the astronauts’ immune system. With these additional immune system stressors, torpor-induced extra-immunosuppression can be potentially life threatening for astronauts.
Core tip: During long-term manned space missions beyond the protective shield of Earth's atmosphere and magnetic field (e.g., a mission to Mars or a long stay on the Moon), while the combined effect of radiation and microgravity affects the astronauts’ immune system, torpor-induced extra-immunosuppression can be potentially life threatening for astronauts.
