Table 1. Characterization of the current body of literature on the effects of spaceflight on cartilage.

Authors	Year	Type of study	Study design	Population/organism characteristics
Stamenković et al. (33)	2010	Cartilage engineering	Experimental	Porcine chondrocytes cultured in spaceflight, earth RPM, and 1-g control for 16 days
Freed et al. (34)	1990	Cartilage engineering	Experimental	Bovine articular chondrocytes on PGA scaffolds grown for 3 months on Earth than 4 months on either spaceflight or 1-g control
Liphardt et al. (35)	2015	Clinical science	Crossover trial	12 healthy male subjects undergoing head down tilt and bedrest and two astronauts undergoing 5.5 months of spaceflight
LeBlanc et al. (36)	1994	Clinical science	Prospective cohort	Five female and two male healthy subjects undergoing 5 or 17 weeks of bed rest and four astronauts undergoing 8 days of spaceflight
Bailey et al. (31)	2014	Basic science	Prospective cohort	Eight mice exposed to 15 days of spaceflight and eight mice as 1-g controls
Sibonga et al. (37)	2000	Basic science	Prospective cohort	42 rats exposed to 4–15 days of spaceflight (12 ovariectomized), 16 ground-based rats with ovariectomy and unilateral sciatic neurotomy exposed of 14 or 42 days of 1 g, and 16 ground-based rats (10 ovariectomized) with 9–10 days of hind limb unloading
Doty et al. (38)	1999	Basic science	Experimental	Chick limb bud mesenchymal cells grown for 8 days, then transferred either to a ground control or 9-day spaceflight
Klement et al. (39)	1999	Basic science	Experimental	Mouse embryonal metatarsals cultured for 8.3, 10, and 14 days of spaceflight
Suda et al. (40)	1998	Basic science	Experimental	Fertilized chicken eggs exposed to 7 days of spaceflight, 1-g control, or simulated microgravity
Fermin et al. (28)	1996	Basic science	Experimental	32 chicken embryos exposed to 5 days of spaceflight and 32 same aged chicken embryos exposed to 1-g control
Földes et al. (41)	1996	Basic science	Prospective cohort	Male rats exposed to 12.5 days of spaceflight compared to three rats exposed to 1-g controls
Grinfeld et al. (42)	1996	Basic science	Prospective cohort	Pleurodeles waltl exposed to 12 days of spaceflight and 12 days of 1-g control
Kawashima et al. (43)	1995	Basic science	Experimental	Fertilized chicken eggs exposed to 7 or 10 days of spaceflight and 1-g control
Klement et al. (44)	1994	Basic science	Experimental	13.66-day-old embryonic mouse pre-metatarsal cultured for 5 days of spaceflight and 15.5-day-old embryonic mouse pre-metatarsal cultured for 4 days of spaceflight with 1-g controls
Pedrini-Mille et al. (45)	1992	Basic science	Prospective cohort	Rats exposed to 14 days of spaceflight, 1-g control, and tail suspension

RPM, random positioning machine; PGA, polyglycolic acid.