Exercise reduces circulating biomarkers of cellular senescence in humans.

Cellular senescence has emerged as a significant and potentially tractable mechanism of aging and multiple aging-related conditions. Biomarkers of senescent cell burden, including molecular signals in circulating immune cells and the abundance of circulating senescence-related proteins, have been associated with chronological age and clinical parameters of biological age in humans. The extent to which senescence biomarkers are affected by interventions that enhance health and function has not yet been examined. Here, we report that a 12-week structured exercise program drives significant improvements in several performance-based and self-reported measures of physical function in older adults. Impressively, the expression of key markers of the senescence program, including p16, p21, cGAS, and TNFα, were significantly lowered in CD3+ T cells in response to the intervention, as were the circulating concentrations of multiple senescence-related proteins. Moreover, partial least squares discriminant analysis showed levels of senescence-related proteins at baseline were predictive of changes in physical function in response to the exercise intervention. Our study provides first-in-human evidence that biomarkers of senescent cell burden are significantly lowered by a structured exercise program and predictive of the adaptive response to exercise.

A Worksite Wellness Intervention: Improving Happiness, Life Satisfaction, and Gratitude in Health Care Workers.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of a 12-week Stress Management and Resilience Training (SMART) program on happiness, life satisfaction, gratitude, mindfulness, spirituality, and stress in health care workers. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Participants were members of an employee wellness center at an academic health care center. Participants were enrolled as cohorts of 12 to 18 individuals and received the intervention at an employee wellness center from February 19, 2013, to February 27, 2017. The study was designed as a prospective, nonrandomized, single-arm clinical trial that included a 3-month in-person SMART program (defined as the intervention), with an additional 3-month postintervention follow-up period (6 months total). Outcomes were assessed at baseline (T0), end of intervention (T3), and after the postintervention follow-up period (T6) and included Subjective Happiness Survey, Satisfaction with Life Scale, Gratitude Scale, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Spiritual Well-Being, and Perceived Stress Scale. RESULTS: Of the 110 participants who enrolled and provided consent, 98 participants (89%) completed the T0 and T3 assessments and 85 participants (77%) completed the T0, T3, and T6 assessments. On comparing the T0 and T6 responses, we observed statistically significant improvements (P<.001) in all the domains studied: subjective happiness (baseline average, 4.6; T6 average, 5.5; average difference, 0.9; 95% CI, 0.6-1.0), life satisfaction (baseline average, 22.8; T6 average, 27.5; average difference, 4.7; 95% CI, 3.6-5.9); gratitude (baseline average, 35.8; T6 average, 39.3; average difference, 3.5; 95% CI, 2.6-4.5), mindfulness (baseline average, 3.5; T6 average, 4.2; average difference, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.6-0.9), Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy - Spiritual Well-Being (baseline average, 29.9; T6 average, 37.4; average difference, 7.5; 95% CI, 6.0-9.2), and percentage of people reporting high stress (baseline, 97.6%; T6, 67.1%). Similar results were observed when comparing the T0 and T3 responses. CONCLUSION: In health care workers, training in the SMART program was associated with statistically significant improvements in happiness, satisfaction with life, gratitude, mindfulness, spirituality, and stress (P<.001). Given the importance of stress in the workplace, larger randomized trials and broader dissemination of the program in health care workers is warranted.