The effects of laughter on post-prandial glucose levels and gene expression in type 2 diabetic patients.
This report mainly summarizes the results of our study in which the physiological effects of laughter--as a positive emotional expression--were analyzed with respect to gene expression changes to demonstrate the hypothesis that the mind and genes mutually influence each other. We observed that laughter suppressed 2-h postprandial blood glucose level increase in patients with type 2 diabetes and analyzed gene expression changes. Some genes showed specific changes in their expression. In addition, we revealed that laughter decreased the levels of prorenin in blood; prorenin is involved in the onset of diabetic complications. Further, laughter normalized the expression of the prorenin receptor gene on peripheral blood leukocytes, which had been reduced in diabetic patients; this demonstrated that the inhibitory effects of laughter on the onset/deterioration of diabetic complications at the gene-expression level. In a subsequent study, we demonstrated the effects of laughter by discriminating 14 genes, related to natural killer (NK) cell activity, to exhibit continuous increases in expression as a result of laughter. Our results supported NK cell-mediated improvement in glucose tolerance at the gene-expression level. In this report, we also review other previous studies on laughter.
Hayashi
Takashi
T
Foundation for Advancement of International Science, Bio-Laboratory, 586-9 Akatsuka-Ushigafuchi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0062, Japan. hayashi@fais.or.jp
Murakami
Kazuo
K
D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000502:physiology; D007845:Laughter / Q000502:physiology*; D019518:Postprandial Period / Q000502:physiology*; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics*; D012083:Renin / Q000097:blood; D000093342:Prorenin Receptor
D001786:Blood Glucose; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D012083:Renin; D000093342:Prorenin Receptor