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IT Home reported on August 14 that a new study showed that the severe muscle loss experienced by astronauts in the microgravity environment of space may be partially alleviated. This study designed a new drug that can counteract the muscle loss caused by microgravity to a certain extent, bringing hope for the treatment of long-term space missions and muscle aging problems on Earth.

Researchers point out that just one week of space flight can greatly accelerate the aging of astronauts' muscles, even approaching a disease state called "sarcopenia" suffered by the elderly on Earth. On Earth, sarcopenia takes decades to develop and usually affects the elderly. Because the muscles in the weightless environment of space are no longer subject to the gravitational load like on Earth, their function is weakened. Even if astronauts follow a high-intensity exercise plan on the International Space Station, including riding stationary bicycles, running and weightlifting,They still lose 10 to 20 percent of their muscle mass, putting them at higher risk for serious health problems.

“Space is a very unique environment that accelerates traits associated with aging and impairs many health processes,” said Ngan Huang, an associate professor at Stanford University and co-author of the study. “As space travel becomes more common and civilians have access to space, it will be critical to understand how muscles respond in microgravity.”

According to IT Home, this experiment used "muscle chips" that simulated real muscle structures. The researchers sent these chips to the International Space Station, where astronauts conducted a week-long experiment. At the same time, Ngan Huang and his team conducted a control experiment on Earth to compare the effects of the microgravity environment in space and the normal aging process on Earth on muscles.

The study showed that space travel changes the metabolic function of muscles and weakens their regenerative capacity. At the same time, gene activity associated with muscular dystrophy also appeared, such as a decrease in the expression of genes related to mitochondrial function (muscle energy source) and an increase in the expression of genes related to fat production. These findings further prove that the microgravity environment impairs the repair and regeneration ability of muscles.

Astronauts on the space station also injected the "muscle chip" with two drugs used to repair damaged muscles and treat muscular dystrophy.Drug treatment partially blocks metabolic conversion of muscle to fat and mitigates negative effects of microgravityFurther analysis of muscle gene activity after drug treatment also showed thatIt is more similar to normal aging muscle on Earth。

The research results, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports on July 25, may also provide reference for the treatment of muscular dystrophy on Earth.