| Theme |
The frontier of space medicine |
| Title |
Immune system plasticity and failure in response to gravitational changes |
| Author |
Yoichi Maekawa |
Department of Parasitology and Infectious Diseases, Gifu University Graduate School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
It has been established that spaceflights affect the immune system of astronauts. They are subject to several effects caused by gravitational changes, including inflight microgravity as well as hypergravity during launching and landing. These gravitational changes lead to excessive stress on the immune system in quantitative as well as qualitative terms. A comprehensive understanding of the changes occurring during spaceflight and their countermeasures is much needed. In this article, I introduce recent research in this field, to discuss such changes in the immune system and the effects of failure to control resulting infections. |