Rapid epigenetic changes from meditation
xatu01
12 Jan 2017
Who would have know that meditation works as hdac inhibitor ?
A hint as to how quickly the activity of genes can be change by meditation comes from a study on a day of intensive practice of mindfulness meditation in 19 experienced subjects [9]. The expression of circadian, chromatin modulatory and inflammatory genes was compared to that of a control group of 21 subjects with no meditation experience who engaged in leisure activities in the same environment. PBMC were collected before and after the intervention 8 hours apart. Gene expression was analysed using customised quantitative real time PCR assays. Both groups were also presented with the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST, a lab procedure for inducing stress).
Core clock gene expression at baseline was similar between groups and their rhythmicity was not affected in meditators by the intensive day of practice. All the epigenetic regulatory enzymes and inflammatory genes analysed were similar in basal expression levels in the two groups. In contrast, after the brief practice, there was reduced expression of histone deacetylase genes (HDAX2, 3 and 9 which modify histone proteins altering gene expression), changes in global modification of histones (H4ac; HeK4me3), and decreased expression of pro-inflammatory genes (RIPK2 and COX2) in meditators compared with controls. The expression of RIPK2 and HDAC2 genes was associated with a faster cortisol recovery to the TSST in both groups. The findings suggest that the regulation of HDAX and inflammatory pathways may represent some of the mechanisms underlying the therapeutic potential of mindfulness-based interventions.
