Brain Gene Expression Signatures From Cerebrospinal Fluid Exosome RNA Profiling

3. Data and Results VIIP and IIH • Visual symptoms reported in astronauts returning from long duration missions in low Earth orbit are thought to be related to fluid shifts within the body due to microgravity exposure, leading to increased intracranial pressure (ICP) and visual impairment and intracranial pressure (VIIP) syndrome. • Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a condition characterized by increased ICP without clinical, laboratory, or radiologic evidence of an intracranial space-occupying lesion, meningeal inflammation or venous outflow obstruction. • While the described VIIP syndrome focuses on ocular symptoms, spaceflight has been also associated with a number of other performance and neurologic signs, such as headaches, cognitive changes, vertigo, nausea, sleep/circadian disruption and mood alterations, which, albeit likely multifactorial, can also result from elevation of ICP. • We hypothesize that these various symptoms are caused by disturbances in the neurophysiology of the brain structures and correlated with molecular markers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as indicators of neurophysiological changes. • The purpose of this study is to investigate changes in brain gene expression via exosome analysis in patients suffering from ICP elevation of varied severity and to evaluate which of these biomarkers can also be detected in plasma.