The heart-brain axis: A proteomics study of meditation on the cardiovascular system of Tibetan Monks
Ting Xue, Benjamin Chiao, Tianjiao Xu, Han Li, Kai Shi, Ying Cheng, Yuan Shi, Xiaoli Guo, Shanbao Tong, Menglin Guo, S. Chew, R. Ebstein, D. Cui
EBioMedicine May 13, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2022.104026 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational cohort Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Population | Tibetan monks (BMI > 30) with long-term meditation practice and matched non-meditative Tibetan controls |
| Intervention | Meditation |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key findings | Long-term meditation is associated with a protective plasma proteome and reduced cardiovascular risk factors, offsetting obesity, hypertension, and reduced heart rate variability. |
Abstract
Summary Background There have been mixed reports on the beneficial effects of meditation in cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is widely considered the leading cause of death worldwide.
Methods: To clarify the role of meditation in modulating the heart-brain axis, we implemented an extreme phenotype strategy, i.e., Tibetan monks (BMI > 30) who practised 19.20 ± 7.82 years of meditation on average and their strictly matched non-meditative Tibetan controls. Hypothesis-free advanced proteomics strategies (Data Independent Acquisition and Targeted Parallel Reaction Monitoring) were jointly applied to systematically investigate and target the plasma proteome underlying meditation. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B (Apo B) and lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] as the potential cardiovascular risk factors were evaluated. Heart rate variability (HRV) was assessed by electrocardiogram.
Findings: Obesity, hypertension, and reduced HRV is offset by long-term meditation. Notably, meditative monks have blood pressure and HRV comparable to their matched Tibetan controls. Meditative monks have a protective plasma proteome, related to decreased atherosclerosis, enhanced glycolysis, and oxygen release, that confers resilience to the development of CVD. In addition, clinical risk factors in plasma were significantly decreased in monks compared with controls, including total cholesterol, LDL-C, Apo B, and Lp(a).
Interpretation: To our knowledge, this work is the first well-controlled proteomics investigation of long-term meditation, which opens up a window for individuals characterized by a sedentary lifestyle to improve their cardiovascular health with an accessible method practised for more than two millennia.
Funding: See the Acknowledgements section.