Effect of Lunar Dust Simulant on Wound Healing: An In Vitro Study

Lunar dust properties are partly unknown and even less known are the effects on human health. Based on reports of the Apollo astronauts and studies performed so far, it is expected that lunar dust could cause skin, ocular and respiratory diseases. Since lunar dust is very pervasive, it could easily contaminate any injuries, abrasions, burns and alter the healing process. On the basis of this hypothesis we studied the effect of a lunar dust simulant on the behavior of dermal fibroblasts, which play a crucial role in wound healing. Cell viability, morphology, proliferation, apoptosis, ability to adhere to substrate and migrate to heal a wound, gene expression profile were assessed at 1, 3 and 6 days of treatment and compared with untreated controls. The results showed strong increase in apoptosis, decrease in cell viability and proliferation, cytoskeletal and morphological alterations. The ability to adhere to a substrate as well as migrate and heal a wound decreased. The findings indicate that, in case of wounds, ulcers or burns, lunar dust contamination could impair healing since it alters the behaviour of fibroblasts