Cytokines Production in 120-day Confinement

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to estimate the effect of 120-day confinement in a hermetically sealed chamber with an artificial environment on the ability of cells of innate immunity with pattern-recognition receptors and T-cells of adaptive immunity to synthesize cytokines. The experiment reproducing the conditions of a real spaceflight to the Moon was conducted in the ground-based analog facility called Nazemnyy Eksperimental’nyy Kompleks, or NEK, within the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. The study presents the results of the analyses of cytokines production by immunocompetent cells from peripheral blood of six test-volunteers in response to in vitro antigen stimulation. We managed to demonstrate that the confinement led to the decreased LPS-induced cytokines and chemokines production. Also, increased Th1/Th2, Th1/Th9, and Th1/Th17 cytokines ratios in response to PHA were revealed.