Mars Astronauts Can Defeat Gravity's Wasting Effects With Red Wine's Resveratrol

Microgravity in space can pose a challenge for astronauts, particularly those who will embark on manned mission to planet Mars.

Without gravity, the muscles and bones of the human body weaken, with the weight-bearing muscles being affected the worst. A NASA-funded study now suggests that a compound present in red wine could be a potential solution.

Researchers of the study published in Frontiers in Physiology showed that resveratrol can substantially preserve muscle mass and strength in laboratory animals exposed to simulated Mars gravity.

Astronauts who will go to planet Mars will be dealing with 40 percent less gravity than what they are used to on Earth and the effect on the body will be evident in weeks.

After just three weeks in Martian gravity, the human soleus muscle will shrink by a third. Loss of slow-twitch muscle fibers, which are crucial for endurance, will also occur.

To investigate if resveratrol could be included in the dietary strategy that can keep astronauts strong and healthy on the Red Planet, Marie Mortreux, from Harvard Medical School, and colleagues exposed rats to conditions that mimicked the gravity on Mars.

They fitted rats with full-body harnesses and suspended them by a chain from their cage ceiling. The rats were exposed to this simulated Martian gravity for 14 days. Half of the animals received resveratrol in their water supply.

The researchers then measured and analyzed paw grip force as well as the calf circumference and muscles of the animals. They found that the rats that did not receive the red wine compound experienced loss of grip, muscle weight, calf circumference and slow-twitch muscle fiber.

The animals that received supplemented water, however, recovered their grip, which was comparable to the rats that were exposed to normal Earth gravity.

Researchers also noticed that the rats’ muscle mass was protected and the loss of muscle fibers were not as severe. Circumference and calf muscle fibers, nonetheless, still decreased.

The researchers said that the findings suggest of a potential dietary approach to reduce the wasting effects of low gravity on Mars.

“We hypothesized that a moderate daily dose of RSV (150 mg/kg/day) would help mitigate muscle deconditioning in a Mars gravity analog,” the researchers wrote in their study.

“This work suggests the potential of a nutraceutical approach to reduce musculoskeletal deconditioning on a long-term mission to Mars.”

Resveratrol is commonly found in grape skin and blueberries. It is also widely studied for its anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and anti-diabetic effects.