Epigenetic clock analysis in long-term meditators.
Psychoneuroendocrinology
; 85: 210-214, 2017 Nov.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28889075
ABSTRACT
In this paper, we examined whether meditation practice influences the epigenetic clock, a strong and reproducible biomarker of biological aging, which is accelerated by cumulative lifetime stress and with age-related chronic diseases. Using the Illumina 450K array platform, we analyzed the DNA methylome from blood cells of long-term meditators and meditation-naïve controls to estimate their Intrinsic Epigenetic Age Acceleration (IEAA), using Horvath's calculator. IEAA was similar in both groups. However, controls showed a different IEAA trajectory with aging than meditators older controls (age≥52) had significantly higher IEAAs compared with younger controls (age <52), while meditators were protected from this epigenetic aging effect. Notably, in the meditation group, we found a significant negative correlation between IEAA and the number of years of regular meditation practice. From our results, we hypothesize that the cumulative effects of a regular meditation practice may, in the long-term, help to slow the epigenetic clock and could represent a useful preventive strategy for age-related chronic diseases. Longitudinal randomized controlled trials in larger cohorts are warranted to confirm and further characterize these findings.
Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Envelhecimento
/
Meditação
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Metilação de DNA
/
Epigênese Genética
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
Limite:
Humans
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Psychoneuroendocrinology
Ano de publicação:
2017
Tipo de documento:
Article