Preventing Chronic Disease: Yoga May Alter Gene Expression Linked to Inflammation

Chronic stress, and the resulting inflammatory response, is a known cause of numerous illnesses. Although yoga is found to reduce stress and increase wellbeing, we know little about the molecular mechanisms mediating these effects.
Interestingly, increasingly research suggests that one pathway for these changes is that yoga practice may alter markers of gene expression linked to inflammation.
Yoga Study on Chronic Inflammation
Chronic inflammation is linked to myriad conditions including poor cardiovascular, respiratory, musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal health, weakened immune system function, anxiety, depression, and even dementia and memory loss. A growing body of research finds that yoga and other mind-body practices reduce stress, with limited biochemical evidence pointing to a reduced inflammatory response as a possible corollary of these effects. We still have much to learn about why and how this happens.
One potential explanation for a reduced inflammatory response is that regular yoga practice may alter gene expression and protein synthesis. Epigenetics refers to the study of these changes in gene expression or phenotype that do not involve alterations of an underlying DNA sequence, or genotype. Epigenetic changes occur naturally in living organisms, and are influenced by a number of factors including age, the environment, lifestyle and disease. DNA methylation is one of the most commonly studied characteristic of epigenetic modification.
Research published in Translational Psychiatry suggests that regular yoga practice can foster these epigenetic changes. In the study, researchers examined a subset of 28 women reporting high levels of psychological distress, who had originally been assigned to waitlist control group. Following the initial study, these women were offered an 8-week yoga intervention, and underwent a series of tests to assess several biomarkers of inflammation as well as their psychological wellbeing.
To be eligible for study inclusion participants were required to be Caucasian, female, between the ages of 35 and 50 years (mean age = 41.12 sd = 4.28 years), healthy, have a BMI of less than 30, be free from any illness that might confound interpretation of biological data (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, blood cancers, chronic inflammatory diseases, autoimmune disorders), and not be receiving treatment involving steroids, be menopausal, have a serious psychological illness, or have practiced yoga regular within the previous year.
Study participants completed online surveys of demographic and psychological variables (psychological distress, stress, and mood). This was followed by an in-person, baseline assessment during which they underwent body measurement, and blood tests. Data were collected again immediately at post-test, and at a 1-month follow-up.
The yoga intervention involved 8 weeks of twice weekly, hour-long yoga instruction. A minimum attendance of 8 classes was required to be considered as having completed the intervention. Details of the intervention were not included in the original article.
Yoga May Be Associated With Biomarker Change
A number of key biomarkers associated with inflammation were examined. These included serum concentration of C-reactive protein (CRP), cytokine serum concentrations of interleukin 6 (IL6), and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). DNA methylation, a measure of genetic alteration in each of these biomarkers (CRP, IL6, and TNF) was also assessed.
In general, results of the study showed than an 8-week yoga intervention was associated with some change in inflammatory biomarkers and DNA methylation. Specifically, participants had lower DNA methylation of the TNF following participation in the yoga program. Though not statistically significant, relationships were also found between positive changes in inflammatory biomarkers and improved self-reported stress and psychological distress.
This is the first prospective pilot study assessing the epidemiological effects of a yoga intervention on biomarkers of inflammation (CRP, IL6, and TNF) and DNA methylation patterns of the CRP, IL6 and TNF genes, and comparing changes in these biomarkers with self-reported stress, distress and mood in middle-aged women. Results are important for several reasons.
First, as stress increases globally, a better understanding of the effects of stress on biological factors related to disease is needed.
Second, given that yoga and mindfulness practices are linked to reduced stress, it is essential that we enhance our knowledge of the biological and psychological mechanisms through which this stress reduction occurs. This will enhance our ability to design individually tailored practices to meet the unique needs of students and patients.
Altered Gene Expression Occurs within a Few Hours of Yoga Practice, Study Finds
Interestingly, more recent research shows that you don’t have to wait for months or years for these benefits to take place. One study comparing yoga with a control regimen (e.g., walking and listening to music) found that within hours of practice, found that changes in gene expression could be observed withing three hours in genes associated with immune function, inflammation, and stress response.
Both walking and listening to music also affected gene expression, but yoga resulted in three times more differentially expressed genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs).
These results suggest that yoga practices result in rapid gene expression alterations, which may be the basis for the longer term cell biological and higher level health effects of yoga, the researchers note.
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Dr. B Grace Bullock is a behavioral health, education, and organizational strategist and policy advisor, psychologist, educator, research scientist, book author and science writer. She serves as the Director of Mental and Behavioral Health for the Oregon Department of Education.
Grace has dedicated her career to health promotion, prevention, intervention, research, and developing policies, programs, and practices that ensure that all children and families have equitable access to culturally responsive mental health services and educational supports. She champions the creation of safe, welcoming, and inclusive school systems, cultures, and climates that honor diversity and intersectionality, fully recognize all ways of being and knowing, and ensure that all belong. This means working in partnership to realize detailed, actionable policies that drive sustainable systems to change.
Dr. Bullock strives to be a trusted partner, bringing the values and principles of mind-body medicine into strategic planning, education, and health policy, and program design, development, training, and the evaluation/research of offerings and policies that promote personal, interpersonal, and systemic well-being, effective and equitable leadership, decision-making and social change.
An educator at heart, she teaches courses and workshops on strengths-based, trauma-informed, equity-centered principles and practices, interpersonal relationships, stress resilience, and clinical practice at colleges, universities, professional schools, school districts, and organizations across the USA and Canada. She has spent more than two decades teaching and studying physiological and psychological interventions to reduce stress and support resilient, healthy relationships and systems, and is the author of the acclaimed book, Mindful Relationships: 7 Skills for Success – Integrating the science of mind, body & brain. Her research has been published in numerous empirical journals and featured in Psychology Today and The Greater Good Science Center, among others. She is the science writer for Mindful Magazine and Mindful.org and former Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy.
She received a BA Highest Honors in Psychology, Summa Cum Laude from the University of California at Los Angeles, an MS and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oregon, and completed her clinical residency at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Sources
- Harkess, K.N., Ryan, J., Delgabbro, P.H. & Cohen-Woods, S. (2016). Preliminary indications of the effect of a brief yoga intervention on markers of inflammation and DNA methylation in chronically stressed women. Translational Psychiatry, 6, e965; doi:10.1038/tp.2016.234
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