ReviewNPJ microgravity2024
The effect of space travel on human reproductive health: a systematic review.
Review in NPJ microgravity, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Artificial Intelligence-Driven Reproductive Bioengineering: Integrating Fertility Diagnostics, Organ-on-Chip Systems, Cryobiology and Epigenetic Safety for Precision Reproductive Medicine.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The transgenerational toll of maternal spaceflight.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Beyond Earth: Recent Advancements in Microgravity Biomedical and Genetic Research in Saudi Arabia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- The effect of spaceflight and simulated microgravity exposure on thermoregulation in humans: a systematic review.NPJ microgravity · 2026Article
- Article
- Gut microbiota shifts in spaceflight: a case study evidence and countermeasures for microbial homeostasis.3 Biotech · 2026Review
- A systematic review of microgravity on reproductive systems: Implications for space biology and human health.iScience · 2026Review
- The challenges and prospects of mammalian reproduction in extraterrestrial environments.The Journal of reproduction and development · 2026Review
- Prolonged Cell Encapsulation and Gravity-independent Filamented Light Biofabrication of Muscle Constructs.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2025Article
- A biological and ethical assessment of whether humans could or should reproduce in space.NPJ microgravity · 2025Review
- Beyond Earth, Beyond Time: Preserving Female Fertility in Space Missions.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Oxidative Damage Under Microgravity Conditions: Response Mechanisms, Monitoring Methods and Countermeasures on Somatic and Germ Cells.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Emerging themes and future directions in space radiation health research: a bibliometric exploration from 2013 to 2022.Radiation and environmental biophysics · 2025Article
- Microgravity impairs endocrine signaling and reproductive health of women. A narrative review.Frontiers in physiology · 2025Review
- The Motility of Mouse Spermatozoa Changes Differentially After 30-Minute Exposure Under Simulating Weightlessness and Hypergravity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Weightlessness leads to an increase granulosa cells in the growing follicle.NPJ microgravity · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With increasing possibilities of multi-year missions in deep space, colonizing other planets, and space tourism, it is important to investigate the effects of space travel on human reproduction. This study aimed to systematically review and summarize the results of available literature on space travel, microgravity, and space radiation, or Earth-based spaceflight analogues impact on female and male reproductive functions in humans. This systematic review was performed according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and Space Biomedicine Systematic Review methods. The search was performed using three databases: PubMed, Web of Science, and Medline Complete. During the database search, 364 studies were identified. After the study selection process, 16 studies were included in the review. Five studies included female participants, and the findings show an increased risk of thromboembolism in combined oral contraceptive users, decreased decidualization, functional insufficiency of corpus luteum, and decreased progesterone and LH levels related to space travel or its simulation. Male participants were included in 13 studies. In males, reproductive health considerations focused on the decrease in testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin levels, the ratio of male offspring, sperm motility, sperm vitality, and the increase in sperm DNA fragmentation related to space travel or its simulation. Results of this systematic review highlight the need to focus more on the astronaut's reproductive health in future research, as only 16 studies were found during the literature search, and many more research questions related to reproductive health in astronauts still need to be answered.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.