title: Hydrogen therapy may reduce the risks related to radiation-induced oxidative stress in space flight.
abstract: Cosmic radiation is known to induce DNA and lipid damage associated with increased oxidative stress and remains a major concern in space travel. Hydrogen, recently discovered as a novel therapeutic medical gas in a variety of biomedical fields, has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. It is expected that space mission activities will increase in coming years both in numbers and duration. It is therefore important to estimate and prevent the risks encountered by astronauts due to oxidative stress prior to developing clinical symptoms of disease. We hypothesize that hydrogen administration to the astronauts by either inhalation or drinking hydrogen-rich water may potentially yield a novel and feasible preventative/therapeutic strategy to prevent radiation-induced adverse events.
authors.affiliation: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Propulsion Research and Technology Branch NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL, USA.
authors.forename: Michael P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Schoenfeld
authors.forename: Rafat R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Ansari
authors.forename: June F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Zakrajsek
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Billiar
authors.forename: Yoshiya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Toyoda
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Wink
authors.forename: Atsunori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nakao
mesh_terms: D003359:Cosmic Radiation; D006801:Humans; D006859:Hydrogen; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D012306:Risk; D013026:Space Flight
chemical_list: D006859:Hydrogen