ena-STUDY-Orlando Health-19-04-2021-15:52:03:734-1153
Effect of Preksha Dhyana meditation on the transcriptome and methylome of novice and healthy participants
The human transcriptome and methylome across a variety of cell types and tissues are affected by stress and other psychological factors. Preksha Dhyana proved its efficacy in improving cognitive skills in novice healthy college students meditators after 8 weeks of intervention. In order to decipher the mechanistic pathways at the cellular level, transcriptomic profiling and CpG methylation analyses, from peripheral blood, were performed between baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention in 18-paired participants. At the transcriptomic levels, our findings revealed statistically significant changes of 494 genes (p<0.05) between baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention. A total of 136 genes were upregulated, while 348 genes were downregulated 8 weeks post-intervention compared to the baseline. Several cellular pathways were enriched as a result of intervention. The differentially expressed genes were involved in essential cellular pathways such as innate and adaptive immunity, cell signaling, and metabolic processes. DNA methylation profiling between the baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention showed differential CpG methylation patterns. 85 differentially methylated sites (DMS) showed differential methylation levels (p-value <0.05 and change size from > 5% to < -5%,) between the baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention. Data revealed that 55 DMS were found to be hypermethylated, while 30 DMS were hypomethylated. The 85 DMS were annotated to 57 genes, and several of the affected genes were involved in cell signaling, brain function, telomere maintenance, and other cellular processes. Taken together, our findings showed that Preksha Dhyana meditation affects the gene expression patterns and the DNA methylation profiling from whole blood in novice healthy college students.
The human transcriptome and methylome across a variety of cell types and tissues are affected by stress and other psychological factors. Preksha Dhyana proved its efficacy in improving cognitive skills in novice healthy college students meditators after 8 weeks of intervention. In order to decipher the mechanistic pathways at the cellular level, transcriptomic profiling and CpG methylation analyses, from peripheral blood, were performed between baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention in 18-paired participants. At the transcriptomic levels, our findings revealed statistically significant changes of 494 genes (p<0.05) between baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention. A total of 136 genes were upregulated, while 348 genes were downregulated 8 weeks post-intervention compared to the baseline. Several cellular pathways were enriched as a result of intervention. The differentially expressed genes were involved in essential cellular pathways such as innate and adaptive immunity, cell signaling, and metabolic processes. DNA methylation profiling between the baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention showed differential CpG methylation patterns. 85 differentially methylated sites (DMS) showed differential methylation levels (p-value <0.05 and change size from > 5% to < -5%,) between the baseline and 8 weeks post-intervention. Data revealed that 55 DMS were found to be hypermethylated, while 30 DMS were hypomethylated. The 85 DMS were annotated to 57 genes, and several of the affected genes were involved in cell signaling, brain function, telomere maintenance, and other cellular processes. Taken together, our findings showed that Preksha Dhyana meditation affects the gene expression patterns and the DNA methylation profiling from whole blood in novice healthy college students.