Mind–body therapies and control of inflammatory biology: A descriptive review

“However, there are corroborating data from another group that found decreased NF-jB activity following acute induction of the relaxation response (Bhasin et al., 2013).”

“What are the mechanisms through which these diverse approaches might lead to changes in inflammation, particularly changes in cellular and genomic markers? A number of conceptual models have been proposed to explain the effects of MBTs on a broad range of outcomes (Creswell and Lindsay, 2014; Gard et al., 2014; Holzel…”

“Most of the research on neural correlates of MBTs has focused on meditative practices, and there is preliminary evidence that mindfulness is associated with alterations in threat-related brain regions, including decreased amygdala reactivity (Goldin and Gross, 2010) and reduced functional connectivity of the amygdala…”

“Increases in parasympathetic nervous system activity may also reduce inflammation via the anti-inflammatory cholinergic pathway (Tracey, 2009).”

“Alterations in inflammatory processes are thought to play a role in many of the symptoms and conditions that are responsive to MBTs, including fatigue, depression, and pain (Irwin and Cole, 2011).”

“production, there is mixed evidence that MBTs influence cortisol reactivity to acute stress; for example, a study of compassion meditation found no effect on cortisol reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST), a standardized psychosocial stressor (Pace et al., 2009), whereas a study of brief mindfulness traini…”

“The effects of three different meditation interventions on gene expression profiles have now been examined in various samples – lonely older adults (Creswell et al., 2012), adult caregivers (Black et al., 2014), and women with early stage breast cancer (Bower et al., 2015) – yielding consistent…”

“Further, it is possible that mindfulness and other MBTs may influence activity in reward-related regions, such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), ventral striatum, and septal area, which also have inhibitory effects on threat-related physiological responding (Eisenberger and Cole, 2012).”

“Indeed, there is evidence that mindfulness training leads to alterations in insula activity as well as changes in connectivity with prefrontal areas (Farb et al., 2013).”

“This is important given that the increased inflammatory activity seen in the context of chronic stress is hypothesized to be due to alterations in GR sensitivity (Miller et al., 2008).”

“What are the mechanisms through which these diverse approaches might lead to changes in inflammation, particularly changes in cellular and genomic markers? A number of conceptual models have been proposed to explain the effects of MBTs on a broad range of outcomes (Creswell and Lindsay, 2014; Gard et al., 2014; Holzel…”

“Both of these trials focused on breast cancer patients and one specifically targeted women with cancer-related fatigue, who have previously been shown to have elevated concentrations of soluble TNF receptor type II (sTNF-RII; Bower et al., 2011).”

“Meta-analyses of these trials suggest that MBTs are effective in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life and certain functional outcomes (Bussing et al., 2012; Goyal et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2004).”

“Yoga is also hypothesized to facilitate integration of ‘‘top down’’ and ‘‘bottom up’’ neural processes, although this has not been evaluated (Gard et al., 2014).”

“Changes in these domains have been shown to be associated with MBSR effects on telomerase activity (Jacobs et al., 2011), but such pathways have not been tested for inflammatory outcomes.”

“Similar negative findings were found in two other studies that showed improvements in behavioral and/or patient-reported outcomes without showing changes in cellular production of proinflammatory cytokines (McCain et al., 2008; Zautra et al., 2008).”

“…transcription factors (TFs) as potential mediators of this transcriptional shift, with evidence of activation of proinflammatory NF-jB/Rel family TFs and GATA-family TFs, decreased activity of interferon response factors (IRFs), and decreased activity of the glucocorticoid receptor (Cole, 2014).”

“, 2008), whereas other studies have examined changes at follow-ups lasting 3 months to one year post-treatment (Irwin et al., 2015; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2014).”

“Only one small study has directly measured changes in activation of NF-jB (as opposed to the TELiS-based inferential analyses) and found that the practice of Tai Chi relative to a health education control attenuated the rise in NF-jB found in the controls (Black et al., 2014).”

“…for example, a study of compassion meditation found no effect on cortisol reactivity to the Trier Social Stress Task (TSST), a standardized psychosocial stressor (Pace et al., 2009), whereas a study of brief mindfulness training found increased reactivity to the TSST (Creswell et al., 2014).”

“However, there are corroborating data from another group that found decreased NF-jB activity following acute induction of the relaxation response (Bhasin et al., 2013).”

“Interestingly, we had previously reported that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) induced a remission of insomnia in the older adults, and this remission was associated with sustained decreases in CRP during the one-year follow-up period (Irwin et al., 2014b, 2015).”

“Meta-analyses of these trials suggest that MBTs are effective in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life and certain functional outcomes (Bussing et al., 2012; Goyal et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2004).”

“Indeed, in the exercise literature, year-long physical activity interventions have been required to reduce circulating levels of CRP (e.g., Nicklas et al., 2008).”

“The latter conclusion is supported by meta-analytic results from Morgan et al. (2014) who found that CRP was likely to be reduced following mind–body therapies in populations with disease conditions, but not in healthy persons.”

“Meta-analyses of these trials suggest that MBTs are effective in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life and certain functional outcomes (Bussing et al., 2012; Goyal et al., 2014; Wang et al., 2004).”

“What are the mechanisms through which these diverse approaches might lead to changes in inflammation, particularly changes in cellular and genomic markers? A number of conceptual models have been proposed to explain the effects of MBTs on a broad range of outcomes (Creswell and Lindsay, 2014; Gard et al., 2014; Holzel…”

“found no change in CRP in two trials conducted with breast cancer survivors; one used a 12-week yoga intervention for survivors with persistent fatigue (Bower et al., 2014) and the other used a 6-week mindfulness intervention for younger breast cancer survivors (Bower et al.”

“CRP is regulated in part by IL-6, and Tai Chi-related reduction of IL-6 at 16 weeks (Irwin and Olmstead, 2012) is reportedly followed by reductions of CRP at 24 weeks (Lavretsky et al., 2011).”

“Nevertheless, other studies have found decreases in CRP to occur as early as 8–10 weeks after administration of a mind–body treatment (e.g., Oh et al., 2008, 2010, 2012; Pullen et al., 2008, 2010).”

“Of note, research comparing yoga to stretching has shown mixed effects on psychological and physiological measures (e.g., Chandwani et al., 2014; Corey et al., 2014), though differential effects on inflammatory processes have not been examined.”

“Most of the research on neural correlates of MBTs has focused on meditative practices, and there is preliminary evidence that mindfulness is associated with alterations in threat-related brain regions, including decreased amygdala reactivity (Goldin and Gross, 2010) and reduced functional connectivity of the amygdala…”

“Two of the three trials that found decreases in IL-6 were trials of yoga for patients with heart failure, a group with pronounced elevations in inflammation (Pullen et al., 2008, 2010).”

“To evaluate a cellular source of inflammation, Irwin et al. have examined the effects of Tai Chi on monocyte production of IL-6 and TNF in two independent samples of insomnia patients (Irwin et al., 2015).”

“Nevertheless, other studies have found decreases in CRP to occur as early as 8–10 weeks after administration of a mind–body treatment (e.g., Oh et al., 2008, 2010, 2012; Pullen et al., 2008, 2010).”

“There is some evidence that Tai Chi or Qigong, and possibly yoga, which incorporate physical activity components, are more likely to reduce levels of CRP, relative to meditation; the majority of studies using Tai Chi/Qigong or yoga showed decreases in CRP, whereas none of the meditation studies showed this effect (tho…”

“Indeed, health education has been recommended for use in yoga trials (Sherman, 2012).”

“…4 studies evaluated the production of proinflammatory cytokines using ex vivo methods in whole blood or mixed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (Elsenbruch et al., 2005; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2014; McCain et al., 2008; Zautra et al., 2008), whereas 2 studies examined the intracellular…”

“…cytokines using ex vivo methods in whole blood or mixed peripheral blood mononuclear cells (Elsenbruch et al., 2005; Kiecolt-Glaser et al., 2014; McCain et al., 2008; Zautra et al., 2008), whereas 2 studies examined the intracellular production of IL-6 and TNF at the level of the monocyte, the…”

“Interestingly, we had previously reported that cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) induced a remission of insomnia in the older adults, and this remission was associated with sustained decreases in CRP during the one-year follow-up period (Irwin et al., 2014b, 2015).”

“Autonomic nervous system: Focusing first on the ANS, preliminary evidence indicates that MBTs are associated with decreases in sympathetic activity and increases in parasympathetic activity (Audette et al., 2006; Creswell and Lindsay, 2014; Motivala et al., 2006), reflecting greater sympathovagal balance.”

“For example, in regards to anti-viral immune response (as opposed to inflammation), Irwin et al. (2007) found that Tai Chi together with varicella zoster virus vaccination augmented the immune response in older adults to a greater extent than either Tai Chi or vaccination alone.”

“Autonomic nervous system: Focusing first on the ANS, preliminary evidence indicates that MBTs are associated with decreases in sympathetic activity and increases in parasympathetic activity (Audette et al., 2006; Creswell and Lindsay, 2014; Motivala et al., 2006), reflecting greater sympathovagal balance.”

“Two of the three trials that found decreases in IL-6 were trials of yoga for patients with heart failure, a group with pronounced elevations in inflammation (Pullen et al., 2008, 2010).”

“However, it is notable that decreases in IL-6 were found among individuals with higher baseline levels of this marker in a trial of Tai Chi in healthy older adults (Irwin and Olmstead, 2012) and among individuals with more hours of meditation practice in trials of mindfulness (Bower et al.”

“The limited data for any of these other circulating outcomes do not allow for any conclusions, although two of the studies that administered yoga and measured TNF or its soluble receptor found stable levels in the yoga group vs. controls (Bower et al., 2014; Rao et al., 2008).”

“Nevertheless, other studies have found decreases in CRP to occur as early as 8–10 weeks after administration of a mind–body treatment (e.g., Oh et al., 2008, 2010, 2012; Pullen et al., 2008, 2010).”

“Of note, research comparing yoga to stretching has shown mixed effects on psychological and physiological measures (e.g., Chandwani et al., 2014; Corey et al., 2014), though differential effects on inflammatory processes have not been examined.”

“, 2012), adult caregivers (Black et al., 2014), and women with early stage breast cancer (Bower et al.”

“…interventions that have been used for the treatment of fear- and anxiety-based disorder, such as community-based educational intervention, exercise, yoga, and mediation, have also been associated with decreases in inflammation (Bower and Irwin, 2016; Pace et al, 2009; Villablanca et al, 2015).”

“Seven different randomized controls of mind–body therapies (ie, Tai chi, meditation, Yoga) have all been shown to reverse the pattern of leukocyte transcriptional alterations including activation of genes regulated by the proinflammatory NF-κB/Rel family (Bower and Irwin, 2016).”

“These results indicate that while MBSR and practices involving yoga asanas appear to influence IL-6 levels to some degree, that selecting an appropriate comparison group is particularly important when assessing the impact of yoga asanas on IL-6 levels.”

“A number of holistic and alternative strategies, such as exercise, weight reduction or diet modification, dietary supplements, yoga, massage, tai chi and meditation, that have been shown to reduce depressive and anxiety symptoms are thought to either directly or indirectly reduce inflammation [243].”