Long-duration human spaceflight induces atrophy in the left ventricular papillary muscles

Microgravity exposure induces cardiac deconditioning, primarily due to hypovolemia and inactivity. Animal models suggest microgravity may cause left ventricular (LV) papillary muscle atrophy, but this has not been studied in humans. This study used MRI to assess LV papillary muscle mass and LV morphology and function in nine male cosmonauts before and 6 ± 2 days after long-duration spaceflight (247 ± 90 days). Spaceflight did not affect LV volumes, ejection fraction, and strain parameters, but increased heart rate (P < 0.001) and cardiac output (P = 0.03). LV papillary muscle mass decreased by 14% (P = 0.017), while LV mass tended to increase (P = 0.083), mitral annular diameter increased (P = 0.004) without mitral leakage, and LV sphericity increased (P = 0.02). These findings suggest LV adapts to space with geometric changes, but microgravity-induced papillary muscle atrophy requires further study for long-term implications.

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Publication Details

Journal
npj Microgravity
Published
2025-11-12
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41526-025-00531-7
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Spaceflight effects on biology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
2.33

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article

Long-duration human spaceflight induces atrophy in the left ventricular papillary muscles

Amin Hossein, Е. А. Мершина, Vitalie Faoro, Enrico G. Caiani et al.
2 citations
npj Microgravity
Spaceflight effects on biology
2.33
article

Long-duration human spaceflight induces atrophy in the left ventricular papillary muscles

Amin Hossein, Е. А. Мершина, Vitalie Faoro, Enrico G. Caiani, Philippe van de Borne, В. Е. Синицын, Jérémy Rabineau, Elena Luchitskaya, Cyril Tordeur, Pierre‐François Migeotte, Jens Tank, Elza Abdessater, Fabio Righetti
article en
2 citations

Abstract

Microgravity exposure induces cardiac deconditioning, primarily due to hypovolemia and inactivity. Animal models suggest microgravity may cause left ventricular (LV) papillary muscle atrophy, but this has not been studied in humans. This study used MRI to assess LV papillary muscle mass and LV morphology and function in nine male cosmonauts before and 6 ± 2 days after long-duration spaceflight (247 ± 90 days). Spaceflight did not affect LV volumes, ejection fraction, and strain parameters, but increased heart rate (P < 0.001) and cardiac output (P = 0.03). LV papillary muscle mass decreased by 14% (P = 0.017), while LV mass tended to increase (P = 0.083), mitral annular diameter increased (P = 0.004) without mitral leakage, and LV sphericity increased (P = 0.02). These findings suggest LV adapts to space with geometric changes, but microgravity-induced papillary muscle atrophy requires further study for long-term implications.

npj MicrogravityVol. 11(1)
Université Libre de Bruxelles (BE), University of Waterloo (CA), Lomonosov Moscow State University (RU), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR) (DE), Institute of Biomedical Problems (RU), IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano (IT), Moscow State University (TJ), Politecnico di Milano (IT)
Fonds Erasme, European Space Agency, Belgian Federal Science Policy Office, Russian Academy of Sciences
Openalex Percentile: Top 10%
Spaceflight effects on biology
2.33
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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