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Experiment/Payload Overview

Brief Summary

Inhaled dust particles can cause inflammation in the airways of humans on Earth as well as in space. To study the effects of the inhaled dust particles in space, investigators will examine the amount of the gaseous Nitric Oxide, which indicates airway inflammation, exhaled by crewmembers.

Principal Investigator

Dag Linnarsson, Ph.D. Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Co-Investigator(s)/Collaborator(s)

Lars Karlsson, Ph.D. Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Lars Gustafsson, Ph.D., Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Claes Frostell, M.D., Ph.D., Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

Manuel Paiva, Ph.D., Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium

Tryggve Hemmingsson, Aerocrine, Solna, Sweden

Per Blom, M.D., Ph.D., Linde Gas Therapeutics, Lidingo, Sweden

Payload Developer

Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
Aerocrine, Solna, Sweden

Sponsoring Agency

European Space Agency (ESA)

Expeditions Assigned

|13|14|17|

Previous ISS Missions

This experiment has also been known as ESANO-1.

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Experiment/Payload Description

Research Summary

• Dust particles never settle in microgravity, therefore they are more concentrated in the environment ISS and are inhaled by crewmembers.



• Inhalation of dust particles into the airways leading to the lungs can cause inflammation of the airways.



• Measurements of the amount of Nitric Oxide, an exhaled gas, will be used to determine the amount of airway inflammation experienced by the ISS crewmembers.



• This research will lead to the advancements in treatment for patients that have lung inflammation illnesses, such as asthma, and countermeasures to ensure respiratory health on long duration space missions.

Description

Recent research has demonstrated that an elevation of expired Nitric Oxide is an early and accurate sign of airway inflammation especially in asthma but also after occupational dust inhalation. This experiment will utilize improved techniques for analysis of Nitric Oxide in expired air. This will be used to study physiological reactions in humans in microgravity.

Since dust never settles in microgravity, it is likely that there is an increased exposure of the human airways to inhaled particles in such an environment. The crewmembers will perform a simple inhalation-exhalation procedure on a bi-weekly basis during their stay on the ISS.

Elevated levels of expired Nitric Oxide compared to preflight levels would indicate airway inflammation. Data will be stored on a credit-card size memory unit. This experiment, which started during Expedition 12, is planned to be carried out over multiple Expedition Crews requiring eight subjects.

The Platon device, developed for spaceflight, has a dual use, as it is now also used to improve the treatment of asthma by allowing monitoring of patients at home. (Description provided by ESA: Astrolab Mission)

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Applications

Space Applications

No Information Available

Earth Applications

No Information Available

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Operations

Operational Requirements

No Information Available

Operational Protocols

No Information Available

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Results/More Information

No Information Available

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Related Web Sites

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Publications

Results Publications

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Related Publications

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Images

The Platon device is used to detect Nitric Oxide in the NOA-1 experiment. Image courtesy of ESA.
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NASA Image: ISS012E24271- The Planton Unit and Medical kits in the Zvezda Service Module (SM). The Platon unit, Nitric Oxide Analyzer (NOA), used in the European Space Agency Nitric Oxide 1 (ESANO 1) experiment is in the mid-left of the image. Image taken during Expedition 12/13 Joint Operations.
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Information Provided and Updated by the ISS Program Scientist's Office