'Hypergravity treatment': can wounds heal more quickly despite stress?

In space, astronauts are exposed to extreme conditions: cosmic radiation, prolonged weightlessness, and social isolation. These factors cause stress, among other things. "When the body experiences stress, it first produces adrenaline followed by cortisol. Prolonged stress causes chronic exposure to the stress hormone cortisol. This chronic exposure suppresses the immune system, while wound repair requires on a properly functioning immune system, and stress therefore inhibits wound healing. Wound healing is even slower to initiate where long-term weightlessness is a factor," explains Eline Radstake, doctoral student at SCK CEN and Ghent University. The researchers are interested to know whether a 'hypergravity treatment' can reverse the effect and counteract delayed wound healing.

In order for this experiment to succeed, the researchers must go through several stages. First of all, they create in-vitro wounds and administer stress hormones to the wounds. Next, the 'stressed and wounded skin cells' are rolled around in multiple directions for twelve hours in a random positioning machine. The intention is to eliminate the effect of gravity and simulate delayed wound healing. "Only then are they allowed on board the centrifuge, in which they will spend six hours, before being placed back in a random positioning machine. Astronauts on a space voyage would also return to a weightless environment after a 'hypergravity treatment'. We want to simulate the same situation with the experiment," Eline continues.