Preksha Dhyāna Meditation Effect on the DNA Methylation Signature in College Students.
Samani U Pragya, Samani C Pragya, Anthony J Griswold, Esther Gu, Neelam D Mehta, Parvin Uddin, Pushya Veeramachaneni, Naina Mehta, Devendra Mehta, Bassam Abomoelak
Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine April 2023 DOI: 10.1089/jicm.2022.0713 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Observational pre-post intervention study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 34 |
| Population | Healthy novice college student meditators |
| Intervention | Preksha Dhyana meditation |
| Duration | 8 weeks |
| Topics | Meditation |
| Keywords | Cpg dna methylation Preksha dhyana Cellular pathways |
| Registration | NCT03779269 |
| Key findings | Preksha Dhyana meditation was associated with 470 nominally differentially methylated CpG sites (180 hypermethylated, 290 hypomethylated) in peripheral blood after 8 weeks. Genes linked to these sites were enriched in metabolic and brain-function signaling pathways, which the authors propose may underlie the meditation's cognitive and transcriptomic effects. |
Abstract
Introduction: The stress and psychological factors affect the human transcriptomic and epigenomic landscapes. Preksha Dhyana meditation (PM) was found to be effective, in novice healthy college student meditators, at the cognitive skills and transcriptomic levels. Recently published data showed that PM induced alterations at the transcriptome level in healthy and novice college students.
Methods: To decipher potential mechanisms underlying the PM effect at the cellular level, array-based methylation analyses in peripheral blood were performed at baseline and 8 weeks postintervention in 34 participants.
Results: Overall, 470 CpG sites were nominally differentially methylated (p ≤ 0.05 and change magnitude from ≥3% to ≤ -3%) between baseline and 8 weeks postintervention with 180 sites hypermethylated and 290 sites hypomethylated. Pathway analysis of the genes linked to the differentially methylated sites revealed the enrichment of several molecular and cellular signaling pathways, especially metabolic and brain function signaling pathways.
Conclusions: Besides its beneficial effects on cognitive skills and transcriptome alterations, the current data indicate that PM meditation also affects the DNA methylation profile of novice and healthy college students 8 weeks postintervention. Clinical
Trial Registration: NCT03779269.