New drug to keep astronauts' muscles healthy

Stem Cell Reports magazine reported that American doctors were able to develop a new drug formula that helps maintain the health of astronauts' muscles while they are in zero gravity conditions.

According to the information provided by the magazine, the new drug developed by American doctors includes a group of hormones and proteins that enhance muscle regeneration and slow down their decline during long periods of time in zero gravity conditions. This drug was successfully tested on muscle cell cultures that were sent to the International Space Station.

“Space is a unique environment where many of the processes and changes in the body that are commonly associated with aging are accelerated,” Ngan Huang, an assistant professor at Stanford University, told the magazine. “Astronauts often return to Earth with worn-out and weak muscles. Spaceflight has become commonplace for humans, so it is important for us to understand how zero gravity conditions affect muscle weakness, and how this problem can be overcome.”  

The magazine pointed out that scientists had previously sent to the International Space Station innovative biochips covered with a set of channels and a special layer of collagen protein. These chips were designed so that muscle threads could be grown on their surface for a long period of time and how their vital activity changes in a state of weightlessness and upon contact with different molecules could be observed. Based on this idea, American doctors sent to the International Space Station similar biochips placed in a medium containing proteins and hormones, including the IGF-1 peptide and the substance 5-PDGH-i, which are substances that stimulate muscle growth and improve the function of the mitochondria in them. These substances have proven to be effective in zero-gravity conditions while in space.

Scientists hope the new drug will help slow muscle weakness in astronauts on the International Space Station and future missions to the moon, Mars and other planets.