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Vision Issues and Space Flight: Evaluation of One-Carbon Metabolism PolymorphismsIntermediates of the one-carbon metabolic pathway are altered in astronauts who experience vision-related issues during and after space flight. Serum concentrations of homocysteine, cystathionine, 2-methylcitric acid, and methylmalonic acid were higher in astronauts with ophthalmic changes than in those without (Zwart et al., J Nutr, 2012). These differences existed before, during, and after flight. Potential confounding factors did not explain the differences. Genetic polymorphisms could contribute to these differences, and could help explain why crewmembers on the same mission do not all have ophthalmic issues, despite the same environmental factors (e.g., microgravity, exercise, diet). A follow-up study was conducted to evaluate 5 polymorphisms of enzymes in the one-carbon pathway, and to evaluate how these relate to vision and other ophthalmic changes after flight. Preliminary evaluations of the genetic data indicate that all of the crewmembers with the MTRR GG genotype had vision issues to one degree or another. However, not everyone who had vision issues had this genetic polymorphism, so the situation is more complex than the involvement of this single polymorphism. Metabolomic and further data analyses are underway to clarify these findings, but the preliminary assessments are promising.
Document ID
20140017018
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Smith, Scott M. (NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Gregory, Jesse F. (Florida Univ. Gainesville, FL, United States)
Zeisel, Steven (North Carolina Univ. Chapel Hill, NC, United States)
Ueland, Per (Bergen Univ. Norway)
Gibson, C. R. (Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering Group Houston, TX, United States)
Mader, Thomas (Department of the Army Washington, DC, United States)
Kinchen, Jason (Metabolon, Inc. Durham, NC, United States)
Ploutz-Snyder, Robert (Universities Space Research Association Houston, TX, United States)
Zwart, Sara R. (Universities Space Research Association Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
December 4, 2014
Publication Date
January 1, 2015
Subject Category
Aerospace Medicine
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-32354
Meeting Information
Meeting: Experimental Biology
Location: Boston, MA
Country: United States
Start Date: March 28, 2015
End Date: April 1, 2015
Sponsors: American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, American Society for Nutrition, American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Physiological Society, American Association of Anatomists, American Society for Investigative Pathology
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

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