Table 2.
Summary of immune cells alterations in space or ground-based microgravity facilities.
| Cell | Modeled Microgravity | Real Microgravity | Cell Location | Alterations | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lymphocyte | RWV | Lymph nodes (Mouse) | Abrogated antigen-specific function | [47] | |
| Spacelab | Blood (Human) | Inhibited response to mitogen Con A | [48] | ||
| RWV | Peripheral blood (Human) | Inhibited locomotion, blunted ability to respond to PHA | [35] | ||
| RWV | PBMC (Human) | Suppression of PHA activation | [36] | ||
| Postflight | PBMC (Human) | Reduction of activity | [49] | ||
| Natural killer cell | Postflight | PBMC (Human) | Suppressed cytotoxic | [49] | |
| Postflight | Peripheral blood (Human) | Lower cell counts | [50] | ||
| Spaceflight | Spleen (Rat) | Inhibited cytotoxicity | [51] | ||
| Neutrophil | Postflight | Blood (Human) | Increased number | [45,52] | |
| Postflight | Peripheral blood (Human) | Increased number | [52,53] | ||
| Postflight | Circulating leukocyte subsets (Human) | Increased number | [54] | ||
| Postflight | Blood (Human) | Increased number, lower phagocytosis, and oxidative burst capacities | [49,55] | ||
| Monocyte/ macrophage |
SLS-1 | Blood (Human) | Increased number | [56] | |
| Parabolic flight | BMDM (Mouse) | Enhanced proliferation, inhibited differentiation |
[27] | ||
| Postflight | Blood (Human) | Monocytopenia | [57] | ||
| Postflight | Spleen (Rat) | Decreased number | [58] | ||
| Postflight | Peripheral blood (Human) | Increased number | [53] | ||
| Postflight | Peripheral blood leucocytes (Human) | Increased number | [59] | ||
| RCCS | Spleen (Mouse) | Decreased number | [60] | ||
| Postflight | PBMC (Human) | Reduction in phagocytosis | [49,61] |
BMDM, bone marrow-derived macrophage; Con A, concanavalin A; PHA, phytohemagglutinin.