Diet Supplement May Help Astronauts Stay Healthy in Space

A medical student's summer research project has produced results that may someday help astronauts stay healthy on long space flights.

Nathan Hales, a second-year student at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, had the option of taking the summer off and relaxing, but instead he spent eight weeks in a laboratory learning what it's like to be a scientist.

In the laboratory of Dr. Anil Kulkarni, professor of surgery, Hales participated in a NASA-funded research project that focused on improving the immune system of astronauts by adding a simple nucleotide supplement to their diet.

Previous research has shown that astronauts returning from extended visits to space experience many physical problems, including a suppressed immune system, bone and muscle loss, and exhaustion.

"No one knows why," Hales said. "It's becoming increasingly import to NASA, as they project long-term, three-year missions to Mars, that we figure out a way to maintain the immune systems of astronauts and keep them healthy while they're out there."

Hales and his colleagues designed protocols to test the effectiveness of dietary supplementation in a simulated microgravity environment. The two-part experimental approach involved both test tube and live animal components. Results were promising enough that Hales and the group presented their research this year at the NASA Cell Science conference in Houston, the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 25th Clinical Congress in Chicago, and the Experimental Biology conference in Orlando.

"I didn't have any background or any set protocols, so we had to learn and modify along the way," Hales said, "It gave me a sense of accomplishment to be able to carve out our own path and pioneer a small part of what was happening."

So far, this is the only approach that takes something as simple as supplementing the components of RNA nucleotides to enhance the immune system, Hales said. Dr. Kulkarni, who also holds a faculty appointment in The University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and his collaborators, are currently working on extending these same principles to other areas of medical research, such as immunological crises of cancer patients.

Hales' experience was made possible through the UT-Houston Summer Research Program, coordinated by the Office of Education Access and Equity.

"I wanted a research foundation," Hales said, "so that when I become a doctor and see something that could be improved upon, I'll be able to design the methodology to test my ideas.

"Even though I enjoyed my research experience," he said, "I love working one-on-one with patients, and it would be nice to one day combine both roles into a career as a physician-scientist."

This component of Dr. Kulkarni's research is funded by a grant from NASA and supported by an institutional grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Collaborators include Keiko Yamauchi and Vani Ramesh at UT-Houston, and Drs. Neal Pellis and Alamelu Sundaresan of the cellular biotechnology program at Johnson Space Center/NASA.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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