EFFECT OF MICROGRAVITY

ON MUSCULOSKELETAL
SYSTEM
Surender Yadav
Ashutosh Pandey
Prerequisite Knowledge
 Microgravity : very weak gravity, as in an orbiting spacecraft
 Musculoskeletal
System : provides form, support, stability, and
movement to the body
e.g. bones of the skeleton, muscles, cartilage, tendons, ligaments,
joints, and other connective tissue
 Gravity of Earth : acceleration that is imparted to objects due to the
distribution of mass within Earth.
which is denoted by ( g ), i.e.newtons per kilogram or metres per
second squared
 Atrophy: loss in mass of body tissue or an organ, especially as a result
of the degeneration of cells
Effect on Muscle ( most effected lower
extremities )
1. Atrophy,
2. Reduced functional capacity, and
3. Increased fatigue in limb skeletal muscles
4. Loss of muscle mass, strength and endurance, especially in
the lower extremities
Data Skeletal muscle mass in humans :
lower extremities (soleus muscle )
 powerful muscle in the back part of the lower leg (the calf)

After an 8-day Spaceflight [1]

1. for the calf 6.3%
2. quadriceps 6.0%
3. anterior compartment of the lower leg less loss (3.9%).
4. The hamstrings 8.0%
5. intrinsic lumbar muscles 10.3%
 Preflight Vs Postflight

 widemyofibrils, whereas myofi- brils postflight are thinner,

indicating atrophy. Mitochondria and glycogenlike
granules are similar in both fibers, but lipid droplets are
more frequent postflight
17 SF
A. BEFORE
B. AFTER
a similar finding for the Sol, for which, after a
17-day SF, type IIa fiber CSA declined 26%
compared with a 15% reduction in the slow
type I fiber.
 Breakdown of thin filament actin
 Impairing protein synthesis
11 day 17 day SF
Effect on Bones
(Reference: www.nasa.gov)
How space exploration affect Astronauts Bones ?
Effects of weightlessness

1. Astronauts grow taller

2. Decreased red blood cell production as
a. The shift of blood to the chest tricks the body into
thinking that it has too much blood volume, which
leads to a decrease in erythropoietin released from
the kidneys and hence RBC synthesis by the bone
marrow and
b. RBCs waiting to be released from the bone marrow
are destroyed
Effects of weightlessness

3. Decreased blood volume

Note: the increased blood volume in the thoracic cavity due

to fluid shifts increases blood pressure, which leads to
decreased anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) and aldosterone
release as well as decreased SNS activity resulting in
increased urine production and decreased blood volume
Effects of weightlessness
4. Decreased oxygen carrying capacity of the blood

5. Increased blood viscosity which increases resistance to

blood flow

6. Increased resistance to blood flow potentially

decreases cardiac output and/or increases blood
pressure

7. Decreased physical work capacity

8. Loss of lean body weight (bone, muscle, and connective
tissue) and cardiac tissue which also contributes to a
decrease in physical work capacity
9. Bone loss due to reduced bone stress
10. muscle loss due to reduced use
11. Cardiac atrophy due to decreased blood volume and
decreased gravitational pull
12. Astronauts exercise several hours per day in order to
minimize loss of lean body weight and cardiac tissue
Recovery of Bones :
 Regenerating bone mass takes 3 times as long as it took to
lose
 resistive
activity like lifting or moving a weight as an effective
way to minimize bone loss in space
 Astronauts
on the ISS perform up to 2.5 hours of exercise ,6
days a week to minimize the negative effect of space flight
Mechanism 0f bone loss in space due to microgravity
 Bones are broken down by large cell called osteoclasts releasing
calcium into blood stream.
 osteoblasts
make news bones and for most of your life these
two processes tend to balance each other out
But in SF
 bones do not have to support as much weight and they are
not subjected to the same stresses as they would be on
earth
 Asa result , the calcium in their bone is broken down and
released into the blood stream reflectors decrease in bone
density
 body break down faster than it built up than in microgravity
e.g. bone density can be decreased by a much as 1 percent
which can lead to an increased in risk of bone fracture
 Main reason : fluid redistribution
 Triggers the body to excrete fluids
 Decreased physical stress causes the heart to slow down
 Reduces the production of red cells causing "space
anemia“
Thank you