Retinal blood vessel diameter changes with 60-day head-down bedrest are unaffected by antioxidant nutritional cocktail.

ABSTRACT: Long-term human spaceflight can lead to cardiovascular deconditioning, but little is known about how weightlessness affects microcirculation. In this study, we examined how the retinal microvessels and cerebrovascular regulation of 19 healthy male participants responded to long-term head-down bedrest (HDBR), an earth-based analog for weightlessness. In addition, we examined whether an anti-inflammatory/antioxidant cocktail could prevent the vascular changes caused by HDBR. In all study participants, we found a decrease in retinal arteriolar diameter by HDBR day 8 and an increase in retinal venular diameter by HDBR day 16. Concurrently, blood pressure at the level of the middle cerebral artery and the cerebrovascular resistance index were higher during HDBR, while cerebral blood flow veloci

SUBMITTER: Louwies T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11568155 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature