Kaliman Perla, Álvarez-López María Jesús, Lehodey Asrar, Fernández Daniel, Chocat Anne, Schlosser Marco, de La Sayette Vincent, Vivien Denis, Marchant Natalie L, Chételat Gael, Lutz Antoine, Poisnel Géraldine
Universitat Oberta de Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain.
Center for Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin.
Biol Psychiatry Glob Open Sci. 2024 Oct 1;5(1):100398. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsgos.2024.100398. eCollection 2025 Jan.
Shorter telomeres are associated with increased risk of cognitive decline and age-related diseases. Developing interventions to promote healthy aging by preserving telomere integrity is of paramount importance. Here, we investigated the effect of an 18-month meditation intervention on telomere length (TL) measures in older people without cognitive impairment.
A total of 137 adults age ≥65 years were randomized to one of the 3 groups (meditation training, non-native language training, or passive control). We evaluated the 50th and 20th percentile TL and the percentage of critically short telomeres (<3 kbp) in peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
Mixed model analysis showed a time effect indicating a general decrease on the 50th percentile TL ( = 80.72, < .001), without a significant group effect or time × group interaction. No significant effect was detected in the 20th percentile TL or the percentage of critically short telomeres. Secondary analysis showed that only in the meditation training group 1) the 50th percentile TL positively correlated with class attendance time ( = 0.45, < .011), 2) the 50th and 20th percentile TL positively correlated with responsiveness to the intervention, evaluated through a composite score ( = 0.46, < .010 and = 0.41, = .029, respectively), and 3) lower scores on a measure of the personality trait "openness to experience" correlated with a lower percentage of critically short telomeres after the intervention ( = 0.44, = .015).
In older adults, we found no evidence for a main effect of an 18-month meditation training program on TL compared with the control groups. Our findings highlight the importance of considering the impact of moderating factors when measuring the effectiveness of meditation-based trainings.
较短的端粒与认知能力下降和年龄相关疾病的风险增加有关。开发通过保持端粒完整性来促进健康衰老的干预措施至关重要。在此，我们研究了为期18个月的冥想干预对无认知障碍老年人端粒长度（TL）测量值的影响。
总共137名年龄≥65岁的成年人被随机分为3组之一（冥想训练、非母语语言训练或被动对照组）。我们评估了外周血单核细胞中端粒长度的第50和第20百分位数以及极短端粒（<3 kbp）的百分比。
混合模型分析显示出时间效应，表明第50百分位数端粒长度普遍下降（F = 80.72，P <.001），但无显著的组效应或时间×组交互作用。在第20百分位数端粒长度或极短端粒百分比方面未检测到显著影响。二次分析表明，仅在冥想训练组中：1）第50百分位数端粒长度与上课出勤时间呈正相关（r = 0.45，P <.011）；2）第50和第20百分位数端粒长度与通过综合评分评估的干预反应呈正相关（分别为r = 0.46，P <.010和r = 0.41，P =.029）；3）干预后，人格特质“经验开放性”测量得分较低与极短端粒百分比较低相关（r = 0.44，P =.015）。
在老年人中，与对照组相比，我们没有发现为期18个月的冥想训练计划对端粒长度有主要影响的证据。我们的研究结果强调了在衡量基于冥想的训练效果时考虑调节因素影响的重要性。
