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Yoga, Meditation and Mind-Body Health: Increased BDNF, Cortisol Awakening Response, and Altered Inflammatory Marker Expression after a 3-Month Yoga and Meditation Retreat.

ABSTRACT: Thirty-eight individuals (mean age: 34.8 years old) participating in a 3-month yoga and meditation retreat were assessed before and after the intervention for psychometric measures, brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), circadian salivary cortisol levels, and pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines. Participation in the retreat was found to be associated with decreases in self-reported anxiety and depression as well as increases in mindfulness. As hypothesized, increases in the plasma levels of BDNF and increases in the magnitude of the cortisol awakening response (CAR) were also observed. The normalized change in BDNF levels was inversely correlated with BSI-18 anxiety scores at both the pre-retreat (r = 0.40, p < 0.05) and post-retreat (r = 0.52, p < 0.005) such that those with greater anxiety scores tended to exhibit smaller pre- to post-retreat increases in plasma BDNF levels. In line with a hypothesized decrease in inflammatory processes resulting from the yoga and meditation practices, we found that the plasma level of the anti-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-10 was increased and the pro-inflammatory cytokine Interleukin-12 was reduced after the retreat. Contrary to our initial hypotheses, plasma levels of other pro-inflammatory cytokines, including Interferon Gamma (IFN-γ), Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α), Interleukin-1β (IL-1β), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), and Interleukin-8 (IL-8) were increased after the retreat. Given evidence from previous studies of the positive effects of meditative practices on mental fitness, autonomic homeostasis and inflammatory status, we hypothesize that these findings are related to the meditative practices throughout the retreat; however, some of the observed changes may also be related to other aspects of the retreat such as physical exercise-related components of the yoga practice and diet. We hypothesize that the patterns of change observed here reflect mind-body integration and well-being. The increased BDNF levels observed is a potential mediator between meditative practices and brain health, the increased CAR is likely a reflection of increased dynamic physiological arousal, and the relationship of the dual enhancement of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokine changes to healthy immunologic functioning is discussed.

SUBMITTER: Cahn BR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5483482 | biostudies-other | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:Recent literature suggests that service dogs may be a valuable complementary intervention option for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military veterans due to the potential influence on stress response dysregulation. The aim of this short-term longitudinal study was to quantify the impact of service dogs in US military veterans with PTSD with particular attention to the cortisol awakening response. A sub aim of the study was to empirically evaluate the physiological effects of PTSD service dogs on veteran partners. We conducted a clinical trial (ID: NCT03245814) that assessed the cortisol awakening response for 245 participants at baseline and 3 months follow-up across an intervention group (service dog: veterans n = 88, partners n = 46) and control group (usual care: n = 73, partners n = 38). A total of N = 161 veterans and N = 84 partners collected whole saliva samples via a passive drool collection immediately upon waking, 30 min after waking, and 45 min after waking on three consecutive weekdays at baseline and again at follow-up. Mixed model repeated measures (MMRM) with a fixed effect of the intervention group (service dog or control) were utilized. Covariates considered for the model included time of awakening, sleep duration, sleep efficiency, prior day experiences (measured via ecological momentary assessment), traumatic brain injury, age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, smoking status, alcohol use, physical health, and body mass index. A total of 3951 salivary samples were collected (veterans: 2613, partners: 1338). MMRM results demonstrated that veterans with a service dog had a statistically significant higher cortisol awakening response, including the area under the curve with respect to both increase (AUCi, β = 1.46, p = 0.046) and absolute increase (AINC, β = 0.05, p = 0.035). Results were not statistically significant for partners. Findings suggest that veterans with service dogs have a higher, less blunted CAR in comparison to veterans receiving usual care alone. In veterans with a blunted morning cortisol response, service dog placement could help boost their morning cortisol response.

Project description:Purpose: The goal of this study was to characterized the transcriptome profiles of whole-blood cells from 388 specimens obtained from 106 individuals before and after the meditation retreat at four-time points (T1–T4) by RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq). T1 samples were collected 5-8 weeks before the retreat, T2 samples were collected on the day of retreat before starting the meditation method, T3 samples were collected immediately after the retreat, and T4 samples were collected three months after the retreat. Methods: The human blood samples were collected into PAXgene Blood RNA Tubes and stored at -80°C freezer. Before RNA extraction the samples were removed from -80°C and incubated overnight at room temperature. The samples were randomized before RNA extraction to eliminate any time point or age or sex or batch effect. Manufacturer’s protocol of manual purification of total RNA from human whole blood was followed (Qiagen, cat #762164). RNA was reverse transcribed to complementary DNA (Lexogen QuantSeq 3′ FWD), and sequenced on a HiSeq 4000 instrument (Illumina). Results: We applied a comprehensive systems biology approach starting with whole blood gene expression profiling combined with multi-level bioinformatic analyses to characterize the co-expression, transcriptional, and protein-protein interaction networks to identify meditation-specific core network after an advanced eight-day Inner Engineering retreat program. We found the response to oxidative stress, detoxification, and cell cycle regulation pathways were downregulated after meditation. Strikingly, 220 genes directly associated with immune response, including 68 genes related to interferon (IFN) signaling were upregulated, with no significant expression changes in the inflammatory genes. This robust meditation-specific immune response network is significantly dysregulated in multiple sclerosis and severe COVID-19 patients. Conclusions: The present proof-of-principle study demonstrates that the immune system can be voluntarily influenced by non-pharmaceutical interventions like yoga and meditation. This suggests that meditation as a behavioral intervention could have important implications for treating various conditions associated with excessive or persistent inflammation with a dampened immune system profile.

Project description:BackgroundIn humans, circulating cortisol usually peaks 30-60 min after awakening from nocturnal sleep, this is commonly referred to as the cortisol awakening response (CAR). We examined the extent to which the CAR is influenced by the circadian system, independent of behaviors including sleep.Materials and methodsWe examined the CAR in 34 adults (20 female) using two complementary multiday in-laboratory circadian protocols performed in dim light, throughout which behavioral factors were uniformly distributed across the 24-hour circadian cycle. Protocol 1 consisted of 10 identical consecutive 5-hour 20-minute sleep/wake cycles, and protocol 2 consisted of 5 identical consecutive 18-hour sleep/wake cycles. Salivary melatonin was used as the circadian phase marker (0° = dim light melatonin onset). During each sleep/wake cycle, salivary cortisol was measured upon scheduled awakening and 50-minutes later, with the change in cortisol defined as the CAR. Cosinor analyses were used to detect any significant circadian rhythmicity in the CAR. In secondary analyses, we adjusted the models for time awake before lights on, total sleep time, percent of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and percent of non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep.ResultsBoth protocols revealed a similar circadian rhythm in the CAR, with peaks occurring at a circadian phase corresponding to 3:40-3:45 a.m., with no detectable CAR during the circadian phases corresponding to the afternoon. In addition to the sinusoidal component of the circadian rhythm, total sleep time was also associated with the CAR for protocol 1. The percent of sleep spent in REM or NREM sleep were not associated with the CAR in either protocol.ConclusionOur results show that the CAR exhibits a robust circadian rhythm that persists even after adjusting for prior sleep. Presuming that the CAR optimizes physiological responses to the anticipated stressors related to awakening, these findings may have implications for shift workers who wake up at unusual circadian phases. A blunted CAR in shift workers upon awakening in the evening may result in diminished responses to stressors.

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Yoga, Meditation and Mind-Body Health: Increased BDNF, Cortisol Awakening Response, and Altered Inflammatory Marker Expression after a 3-Month Yoga and Meditation Retreat.

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