Changes in cytokine production in healthy subjects practicing Guolin Qigong : a pilot study
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Guolin Qigong is a combination of meditation, controlled breathing and physical movement designed to control the vital energy (qi) of the body and consequently to improve spiritual, physical and mental health. Practice of Qigong has been reported to alter immunological function, but there have been few studies of its effects on cytokines, the key regulators of immunity. METHODS: Numbers of peripheral blood cytokine-secreting cells were determined by ELISPOT in 19 healthy volunteers aged 27 - 55, before they were taught the practice of Qigong and after 3, 7 and 14 weeks of daily practice. The effect of Qigong on blood cortisol was also examined. RESULTS: Numbers of IL4 and IL12-secreting cells remained stable. IL6 increased at 7 weeks and TNFalpha increased in unstimulated cultures at 3 and 7 weeks but decreased at these times in LPS and SAC-stimulated cultures. Of particular interest, IFNgamma-secreting cells increased and IL10-secreting cells decreased in PHA-stimulated cultures, resulting in significant increases in the IFNgamma:IL10 ratio. Cortisol, a known inhibitor of type 1 cytokine production, was reduced by practicing Qigong. CONCLUSION: These preliminary studies in healthy subjects, although not necessarily representative of a randomized healthy population and not including a separate control group, have indicated that blood levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol may be lowered by short-term practice of Qigong and that there are concomitant changes in numbers of cytokine-secreting cells. Further studies of the effect of Qigong in patients with clinical diseases known to be associated with type 2 cytokine predominance are merited.
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Of the 14 highest-quality cognitive function studies, eight (57%) reported positive relationships and three (21%) reported negative relationships with cognitive function.
“Of the 14 studies with the highest quality ratings, eight (57%) reported positive relationships [423–430] and three (21%) reported negative relationships with cognitive function [431–433].”
From Religion, Spirituality, and Health: The Research and Clinical Implications (2012) · cites this paper as [428]
The Methods (Subjects and evaluations) describe a 19-person Guolin Qigong study measuring cortisol and cytokine production; the Results report those measures, not cognitive function. Searches for cognitive function, study-quality ratings, and the reported counts found no passage addressing the claim. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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References 23 · Cited by 171
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Wang C Xu D Qian Y Medical and healthcare qigong. J Trad Chin Med 1991 11 296 301 1795547
- Authors
- Jones, B. M.
- Affiliations
- Queen Mary Hospital (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Jones, Brian M
- Venue
- BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Published
- 2001-10-18
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 8-8
- ISSN
- 1472-6882 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC59661
- OpenAlex
- W1693953380
- Cited by
- 171
- References
- 23
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 42 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 5 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 7
- FWCI
- 1.80
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, other-oa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Li Ka Shing Foundation
- Queen Mary University of London
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Biofield Effects and Biophysics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Keywords
- qigong, cytokine production, cytokine-secreting cells, cortisol, interferon-gamma, IL-10, interleukin-6, TNF-α, IL-4, IL-12, Th1 cytokines, type 2 cytokines, immunomodulation, meditation, breathing exercises, healthy volunteers
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Breathing Exercises, Female, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Interferon-gamma, Male, Middle Aged, Pilot Projects, Reference Values, Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha, Interleukin-6, Cytokines, Interleukin-10
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