TY - JOUR
T1 - Investigation on the influence of isolated environment on human psychological and physiological health
AU - Meng, Chen
AU - Wang, Wei
AU - Hao, Zikai
AU - Liu, Hong
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020
PY - 2020/5/10
Y1 - 2020/5/10
N2 - Crewmembers are working and living in isolated environment lacking natural light and perception. Although their health problems have been documented, the mechanism has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of the present study is to investigate the psychological and physiological influences of isolated environment on crewmember's health. On account of complexity of the isolated environment, it is necessary to have a manually controllable system to simulate research platform-Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS). Symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90) was used to complete emotional status test. Urine samples were collected for metabonomics and hormone secretion analysis. Fecal samples were collected for intestinal microorganisms analysis. Crewmembers (n = 4) followed strict daily schedule during the experimental period. Five emotional factors were significantly (P < 0.05) increased, differential metabolites were enriched in tryptophan metabolism pathway, the relative abundance of Prevotella decreased significantly (P < 0.0001) when crewmembers in isolated environment without natural light. Hormone (melatonin, cortisol) secretion rhythm also changed. Significant positive correlation (r = 0.805, P < 0.05) between cortisol secretion and anxiety was observed. In conclusion, natural light simulation in an isolated environment may have a positive effect on the physiological and psychological health of the crewmember.
AB - Crewmembers are working and living in isolated environment lacking natural light and perception. Although their health problems have been documented, the mechanism has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of the present study is to investigate the psychological and physiological influences of isolated environment on crewmember's health. On account of complexity of the isolated environment, it is necessary to have a manually controllable system to simulate research platform-Bioregenerative Life Support System (BLSS). Symptom checklist 90 (SCL-90) was used to complete emotional status test. Urine samples were collected for metabonomics and hormone secretion analysis. Fecal samples were collected for intestinal microorganisms analysis. Crewmembers (n = 4) followed strict daily schedule during the experimental period. Five emotional factors were significantly (P < 0.05) increased, differential metabolites were enriched in tryptophan metabolism pathway, the relative abundance of Prevotella decreased significantly (P < 0.0001) when crewmembers in isolated environment without natural light. Hormone (melatonin, cortisol) secretion rhythm also changed. Significant positive correlation (r = 0.805, P < 0.05) between cortisol secretion and anxiety was observed. In conclusion, natural light simulation in an isolated environment may have a positive effect on the physiological and psychological health of the crewmember.
KW - Crewmember
KW - Emotion
KW - Intestinal microorganisms
KW - Isolated environment
KW - Metabolites
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078916412&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136972
DO - 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.136972
M3 - Article
C2 - 32036130
AN - SCOPUS:85078916412
SN - 0048-9697
VL - 716
JO - Science of the Total Environment
JF - Science of the Total Environment
M1 - 136972
ER -
