TY - JOUR
T1 - Antibody responses to bacteriophage φX-174 in human subjects exposed to the Antarctic winter-over model of spaceflight
AU - Shearer, William T.
AU - Lugg, Desmond J.
AU - Rosenblatt, Howard M.
AU - Nickolls, Peter M.
AU - Sharp, Robert M.
AU - Reuben, James M.
AU - Ochs, Hans D.
N1 - Funding Information:
From aBaylor College of Medicine, Houston; bAustralian Antarctic Division, Tasmania; cUniversity of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston; and dUniversity of Washington, Seattle. Supported by National Aeronautics and Space Administration Cooperative Agreement NCC-9 through the National Space Biomedical Research Insti-tute and by the Australian Antarctic Division. Received for publication August 23, 2000; revised September 25, 2000; accepted for publication October 11, 2000. Reprint requests: William T. Shearer, MD, PhD, Texas Children’s Hospital, 6621 Fannin St (MC 1-3291), Houston, TX 77030. Copyright © 2001 by Mosby, Inc. 0091-6749/2001 $35.00 + 0 1/84/112269 doi:10.1067/mai.2001.112269
PY - 2001
Y1 - 2001
N2 - Background: It has been proposed that exposure to long-term spaceflight conditions (stress, isolation, sleep disruption, containment, microbial contamination, and solar radiation) or to ground-based models of spaceflight will alter human immune responses, but specific antibody responses have not been fully evaluated. Objective: We sought to determine whether exposure to the 8-month Antarctic winter-over model of spaceflight would alter human antibody responses. Methods: During the 1999 Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions, 11 adult study subjects at Casey, Antarctica, and 7 control subjects at Macquarie Island, sub-Antarctica, received primary and secondary immunizations with the T cell-dependent neoantigen bacteriophage φX-174. Periodic plasma samples were analyzed for specific antibody function. Results: All of the subjects from Casey, Antarctica, cleared bacteriophage φX-174 normally by 1 week after primary immunization, and all had normal primary and secondary antibody responses, including immunologic memory amplification and switch from IgM to IgG antibody production. One subject showed a high normal pattern, and one subject had a low normal pattern. The control subjects from Macquarie Island also had normal immune responses to bacteriophage φX-174. Conclusions: These data do not support the hypothesis that de novo specific antibody responses of subjects become defective during the conditions of the Antarctic winter-over. Because the Antarctic winter-over model of spaceflight lacks the important factors of microgravity and solar radiation, caution must be used in interpreting these data to anticipate normal antibody responses in long-term spaceflight.
AB - Background: It has been proposed that exposure to long-term spaceflight conditions (stress, isolation, sleep disruption, containment, microbial contamination, and solar radiation) or to ground-based models of spaceflight will alter human immune responses, but specific antibody responses have not been fully evaluated. Objective: We sought to determine whether exposure to the 8-month Antarctic winter-over model of spaceflight would alter human antibody responses. Methods: During the 1999 Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions, 11 adult study subjects at Casey, Antarctica, and 7 control subjects at Macquarie Island, sub-Antarctica, received primary and secondary immunizations with the T cell-dependent neoantigen bacteriophage φX-174. Periodic plasma samples were analyzed for specific antibody function. Results: All of the subjects from Casey, Antarctica, cleared bacteriophage φX-174 normally by 1 week after primary immunization, and all had normal primary and secondary antibody responses, including immunologic memory amplification and switch from IgM to IgG antibody production. One subject showed a high normal pattern, and one subject had a low normal pattern. The control subjects from Macquarie Island also had normal immune responses to bacteriophage φX-174. Conclusions: These data do not support the hypothesis that de novo specific antibody responses of subjects become defective during the conditions of the Antarctic winter-over. Because the Antarctic winter-over model of spaceflight lacks the important factors of microgravity and solar radiation, caution must be used in interpreting these data to anticipate normal antibody responses in long-term spaceflight.
KW - Antarctic winter
KW - Spaceflight model
KW - φX-174 antibody responses
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U2 - 10.1067/mai.2001.112269
DO - 10.1067/mai.2001.112269
M3 - Article
C2 - 11150006
AN - SCOPUS:0035139480
SN - 0091-6749
VL - 107
SP - 160
EP - 164
JO - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
JF - Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
IS - 1
ER -