[Circulatory and hormonal changes induced by microgravity]

Abstract

The absence (or decrease) of the hydrostatic pressure during space flights (microgravity state) or simulations of weightlessness (by immersion, bed rest or head-down tilt) result in a body fluid shift and an engorgement of the central circulation where mechanoreceptors involved in plasma volume regulation are located. Their activation induces the initial (first hours) hormonal response with a decrease in plasma vasopressin, renin and aldosterone and probably an increase in a natriuretic factor (Gauer reflex). Prolonged exposure to microgravity leads to more complex and often hypothetical responses: cardiovascular deconditioning, modifications in secretion and circadian rhythms of above cited hormones. After 24 years of studies on approximately 200 astronauts our knowledge of cardiovascular and hormonal adaptation to space flight is still at the beginning.