Monitoring Antioxidant/Redox Status at Concordia (MARS-C)

NCT04197193 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: 49348
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The European Space Agency (ESA) runs a research centre in Antarctica as an earth-based model for long duration deep-space missions. Just like astronauts travelling into space, crew-members overwintering at this Concordia base are exposed to a number of extreme environmental stressors; including high altitude (approximately 3800m); extreme cold; long periods of 24 hour darkness or daylight; and complete isolation. The investigators will recruit up to 30 over-wintering crew members working at this station for ESA over a 2 year period and observe how their bodies adapt and respond to the stress of living and working in this environment. The investigators will collect blood, saliva and urine samples, together with ultrasound images of muscle mass and grip strength measurements at regular intervals throughout their deployment to Antarctica. These samples will be transported back to Southampton to be analysed for biochemical levels of stress. During the final month of their stay, all participants will be randomised to receive a daily nutritional drink which is either high or low in targeted dietary supplements. Following similar studies that the investigators has successfully performed over shorter durations at high altitudes previously, they hypothesise that levels of stress experienced in extreme environments such as Antarctica or deep space can be reduced with targeted nutritional supplementation. These findings may become important to members of the general public as commercial aviation moves increasingly towards using low space-orbital vehicles to drastically reduce international travel times over the coming decade.

Conditions

Oxidative Stress

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Hand grip strength

  Forearm muscle / grip strength recorded non-invasively using a hand grip dynamometer

  up to 10 months

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Muscle mass

  up to 10 months

• Oxidative stress

  up to 10 months

• Lake Louise Score 2018

  up to 10 months

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Over-wintering members of Concordia crew

You may qualify if:

• Adult
• Member of Concordia station over-wintering crew
• Able to give written informed consent
• Fluent in either English, French or Italian

You may not qualify if:

• Participating in another interventional research study during the deployment to Concordia

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Southampton: lead
• European Space Agency: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Southampton

Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom

Location

Study Officials

• Martin Feelisch, PhD

  University of Southampton

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: December 4, 2019
• First Posted: December 13, 2019
• Study Start: October 3, 2022
• Primary Completion: December 1, 2024
• Study Completion: December 1, 2024
• Last Updated: January 11, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-01

Locations

GB (1)