Tripoli Francesco, Ridolfi Luca, Scarsoglio Stefania
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy.
Department of Environmental, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy.
J Physiol. 2025 Jun 25. doi: 10.1113/JP287142.
Gravity changes with respect to the 1g terrestrial condition induce several cardiovascular alterations, from fluid shift and blood volume reduction to orthostatic hypotension and venous pooling. Micro-gravity and hyper-gravity exposure characterizes space missions and aeronautical flights, as well as terrestrial analogues such as centrifuges, bed rest studies, and parabolic flights. Despite a growing number of clinical measures becoming available, cardiac function in these extreme conditions is still incomplete and difficult to obtain. Thus, computational haemodynamics provides a powerful and reliable tool to understand the cardiac response. We propose a 0D-1D multiscale cardiovascular model to investigate the steady-state acute cardiac response to gravity changes (from 0g to 3g). The model combines a 1D description of the coronary circulation and arterial tree, with a 0D parameterization of the peripheral microcirculation, the venous return, the cardiopulmonary and the cerebrovascular-ocular circulations. The overall model is equipped with short-term regulation mechanisms, and accounts for gravity and posture changes. After a thorough validation using measured data from literature involving the most common central haemodynamic parameters (i.e. HR, MAP, SV and CO), the model provides an in-depth description of the cardiac response from micro- (0g) to hyper-gravity (3g), highlighting: (i) a different behaviour between left and right heart haemodynamics; (ii) an improvement in cardiac efficiency and cardiac performance in micro-gravity; (iii) a worsening of cardiac efficiency and an energy supply/demand impairment both at heart and coronary levels in hyper-gravity. Therefore, the modelling approach proves to be an important tool in shedding light on space medicine. KEY POINTS: Gravity changes from micro- to hyper-gravity induce several cardiovascular alterations, from fluid shift and blood volume reduction to orthostatic hypotension and venous pooling. Although the overall cardiovascular response is clear, details of the cardiac function in these extreme conditions are still incomplete and difficult to obtain. We propose a validated multiscale cardiovascular model to investigate the steady-state acute cardiac response to gravity changes (from 0g to 3g). After a thorough validation against the most common central haemodynamic parameters in literature, present results show: (i) a different behaviour between left and right heart haemodynamics; (ii) an improvement of cardiac efficiency and cardiac performance in micro-gravity; (iii) an energy supply/demand impairment in hyper-gravity. The computational approach is a useful and reliable tool in exploring the response of cardiac parameters which are difficult to investigate experimentally, aiming to shed light on the cardiac function under altered gravitational force.
相对于1g的地球条件，重力变化会引发多种心血管改变，从体液转移、血容量减少到体位性低血压和静脉淤积。微重力和超重力暴露是太空任务、航空飞行以及离心机、卧床研究和抛物线飞行等地面模拟环境的特征。尽管可用的临床测量方法越来越多，但在这些极端条件下的心脏功能仍不完整且难以获取。因此，计算血液动力学为理解心脏反应提供了一个强大且可靠的工具。我们提出了一个0D-1D多尺度心血管模型，以研究重力变化（从0g到3g）时的稳态急性心脏反应。该模型将冠状动脉循环和动脉树的一维描述与外周微循环、静脉回流、心肺循环和脑血管-眼循环的零维参数化相结合。整个模型配备了短期调节机制，并考虑了重力和姿势变化。在使用来自文献的涉及最常见中心血液动力学参数（即心率、平均动脉压、每搏输出量和心输出量）的测量数据进行全面验证后，该模型深入描述了从微重力（0g）到超重力（3g）的心脏反应，突出显示：（i）左右心血液动力学之间的不同行为；（ii）微重力下心脏效率和心脏性能的改善；（iii）超重力下心效率的恶化以及心脏和冠状动脉水平上能量供应/需求的受损。因此，建模方法被证明是阐明太空医学的重要工具。要点：从微重力到超重力的重力变化会引发多种心血管改变，从体液转移、血容量减少到体位性低血压和静脉淤积。尽管整体心血管反应是明确的，但在这些极端条件下心脏功能的细节仍不完整且难以获取。我们提出了一个经过验证的多尺度心血管模型，以研究重力变化（从0g到3g）时的稳态急性心脏反应。在针对文献中最常见的中心血液动力学参数进行全面验证后，目前的结果显示：（i）左右心血液动力学之间的不同行为；（ii）微重力下心脏效率和心脏性能的提高；（iii）超重力下能量供应/需求的受损。计算方法是探索难以通过实验研究的心脏参数反应的有用且可靠的工具，旨在阐明重力改变下的心脏功能。
