Kripalani Simran, Pradhan Basant, Gilrain Kelly L
Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA.
Neuromodulation and Integrative Psychiatry (NIP), Cooper University Hospital, Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Camden, NJ, USA.
J Complement Integr Med. 2021 Jun 22;19(4):827-832. doi: 10.1515/jcim-2021-0039. eCollection 2022 Dec 1.
Mind-body therapies (MBTs), such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and tai-chi, are said to improve quality of life by contributing to positive thinking and reducing overall distress. MBTs not only play a role in reducing stress and anxiety, but they are also found to epigenetically affect genes and other areas in our genomes that are implicated in inflammation, stress, and distress. This review analyzes the role of MBTs in reducing the epigenetic changes as reported in five previously conducted controlled studies found in the NCBI PubMed database. The methylation of the tumor necrosis factor gene, implicated in psychological distress, was shown to significantly decrease for the women who performed yoga. For people who took part in mindfulness meditation, there was a significant alteration in a variety of modifications of histone deacetylase enzymes as well as their expression patterns when compared to the control group. Other studies found that long-term meditators had slower biomarkers of aging, known as epigenetic clocks, and methylation in genes associated with immune cell metabolism and inflammation. Different genomic regions known as CpG dinucleotide sites ("CpG islands") were also found to be epigenetically altered in participants of tai-chi. These controlled studies were promising evidence on the potential of MBTs to affect the epigenetics of an individual. This information will be useful in diagnostic, therapeutic, and preventative measures, and can be an addition to western medicine, in a way that is more holistic and beneficial to the individual.
身心疗法（MBTs），如正念、冥想、瑜伽和太极，据说通过促进积极思考和减轻整体痛苦来提高生活质量。MBTs不仅在减轻压力和焦虑方面发挥作用，而且还被发现会在表观遗传层面影响我们基因组中与炎症、压力和痛苦相关的基因及其他区域。这篇综述分析了MBTs在减少表观遗传变化方面的作用，这些作用是根据美国国立医学图书馆（NCBI）的PubMed数据库中之前进行的五项对照研究报告得出的。对于进行瑜伽练习的女性，与心理痛苦相关的肿瘤坏死因子基因的甲基化显著降低。与对照组相比，参加正念冥想的人在组蛋白去乙酰化酶的多种修饰及其表达模式上有显著变化。其他研究发现，长期冥想者的衰老生物标志物（即表观遗传时钟）较慢，且与免疫细胞代谢和炎症相关的基因存在甲基化现象。在太极练习者中，还发现不同的被称为CpG二核苷酸位点（“CpG岛”）的基因组区域在表观遗传层面发生了改变。这些对照研究为MBTs影响个体表观遗传学的潜力提供了有前景的证据。这些信息将有助于诊断、治疗和预防措施，并且可以作为西医的补充，以一种更全面且对个体有益的方式。
