AUTHOR=Dong Hai-Sheng , Shen Qi-Bing , Lan Hai-Yun , Zhao Wei , Cao Ping , Chen Pu 

TITLE=Fecal Bile Acids Profile of Crewmembers Consuming the Same Space Food in a Spacecraft Simulator

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Physiology

VOLUME=Volume 12 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2021.593226

DOI=10.3389/fphys.2021.593226

ISSN=1664-042X

ABSTRACT=INTRODUCTION: Recently bile acids (BAs) are increasingly being considered as unique metabolic integrators and not just for the cholesterol metabolism and absorption of dietary lipids. Human BAs profiles are evolved to be individual under different environmental, dietary and inherited factors. Variation of bile acids for crewmembers from freshly prepared kitchen diets to wholly prepackaged industrial foods in a ground based spacecraft simulator has not been clearly interpreted.
METHODS: Three crewmembers were confined in a docked spacecraft, and supplied with 7-days periodic wholly prepackaged industrial foods for 50 days. Fecal samples were collected before entry, in the spacecraft simulator and after evacuation. Determination of 16 kinds of bile acids was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry ( HPLC-MS-MS ) method.
RESULTS: BAs metabolism is sensitive to diet and environment transition from freshly prepared kitchen diets in canteen to wholly prepackaged industrial foods in a ground based spacecraft simulator, which is also specific to individuals. A significant positive relationship with a coefficient 0.85 was found for primary BAs CDCA and CA, and significantly negative relationship with a coefficient -0.69 for secondary BAs (LCA and DCA).
DISCUSSION: The profile of BA metabolism of individuals who share the same food in the same environment appears to be unique, suggesting that the inherent ability of different individuals to adapt to diet and environment varies. Since the transition from free diet in open space to whole prepackaged space food diet in a space station simulator causes the variations of BAs pool in a individual manner, assessment of BA metabolic profiles provides a new perspective for personalized diet design, astronaut selection and training, and space flight diet acclimatization.