Space Medicines for Space Health

Tran, Quy Don; Tran, Vienna; Toh, Li Shean; Williams, Philip M.; Tran, Nam Nghiep; Hessel, Volker

Abstract

Scientists from around the world are studying the effects of microgravity and cosmic radiation via the “off-Earth” International Space Station (ISS) laboratory platform. The ISS has helped scientists make discoveries that go beyond the basic understanding of Earth. Over 300 medical experiments have been performed to date, with the goal of extending the knowledge gained for the benefit of humanity. This paper gives an overview of these numerous space medical findings, critically identifies challenges and gaps, and puts the achievements into perspective toward long-term space traveling and also adding benefits to our home planet. The medical contents are trifold structured, starting with the well-being of space travelers (astronaut health studies), followed by medical formulation research under space conditions, and then concluding with a blueprint for space pharmaceutical manufacturing. The review covers essential elements of our Earth-based pharmaceutical research such as drug discovery, drug and formulation stability, drug–organ interaction, drug disintegration/bioavailability/pharmacokinetics, pathogen virulence, genome mutation, and body’s resistance. The information compiles clinical, medicinal, biological, and chemical research as well as fundamentals and practical applications.

Citation

Tran, Q. D., Tran, V., Toh, L. S., Williams, P. M., Tran, N. N., & Hessel, V. (2022). Space Medicines for Space Health. ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 13(8), 1231–1247. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00681

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 31, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Apr 28, 2022
• Publication Date: Aug 11, 2022
• Deposit Date: May 20, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 29, 2023
• Journal: ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters
• Electronic ISSN: 1948-5875
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 8
• Pages: 1231–1247
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00681
• Keywords: Organic Chemistry; Drug Discovery; Biochemistry
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7957169
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00681
• Additional Information: This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00681