Narrative review: spaceflight stressors and all twelve hallmarks of aging
This narrative review links short- and medium-term spaceflight stressors to all twelve hallmarks of aging, describing mitochondrial dysfunction as a central node and a partly reversible aging-like phenotype in astronauts. [1]
Automatic summary · not editorially reviewed
The key findings
The review states that microgravity, galactic cosmic radiation, circadian disruption and prolonged confinement together induce multisystem changes resembling terrestrial aging. [1]
Epigenetic clock analyses showed about 1.9 years of biological age acceleration in astronauts after a 9-day orbital mission. [1]
The authors conclude that the relationship between spaceflight biology and terrestrial geroscience is bidirectional. [1]
The source at a glance
- Study type / format
- Narrative review (abstract only)
- Population / context
- Astronauts and rodent models, as described in the review abstract.
- Summary based on
- Study abstract
Spaceflight stressors and aging-like changes
The review states that human spaceflight exposes crew members to microgravity, galactic cosmic radiation, circadian disruption and prolonged confinement. Together, the authors write, these stressors induce multisystem physiological changes resembling terrestrial aging. The review examines how short- and medium-term spaceflight affects all twelve recognized hallmarks of aging.
Supporting source [1]
Mitochondria, telomeres and biological age in astronauts
Integrated multi-omics analyses in astronauts and rodent models identified mitochondrial dysfunction as a central node, with oxidative damage propagating genomic instability, cellular senescence and chronic inflammation. Telomere dynamics showed a paradoxical elongation-shortening cycle. Epigenetic clock analyses showed about 1.9 years of biological age acceleration in astronauts after a 9-day orbital mission, with hierarchical post-flight recovery: reversible transcriptomic and epigenomic shifts versus persistent chromosomal inversions and clonal hematopoiesis mutations.
Supporting source [1]
Bidirectional link to terrestrial geroscience
The authors conclude that the relationship between spaceflight biology and terrestrial geroscience is bidirectional. Aging research on Earth provides the interpretive framework for astronaut molecular data, while spaceflight offers a compressed, partially reversible aging-like phenotype in healthy young subjects without a direct terrestrial counterpart. The review also states that space radiation induces qualitatively distinct senescent phenotypes amenable to senolytic clearance, supporting a proposed translational framework for geroprotective strategies.
Supporting source [1]
How to interpret this
This is an abstract of a narrative review; the full text was not reviewed. The abstract reports no systematic search, sample sizes, follow-up details or effect estimates beyond the cited figures, and its translational framework is proposed, not validated.
Based on the study abstract; the full paper, tables and supplementary data were not reviewed.
Source & supporting passages
Piercarlo Minoretti, Simone Lista, Susana López-Ortiz, María Merino-País, Alejandro Santos-Lozano, Alejandro Lucia, Enzo Emanuele · doi.org