In the current study, the authors examined the effects of a manualized, preventative program for Christians with repetitive negative thinking (RNT), utilizing Christian meditation as a Christian-sensitive alternative to Buddhist-informed mindfulness meditation. After randomizing participants to a 4-week program or wait-list at two Christian universities, the intervention group received instruction in both kataphatic (using words and images) and apophatic (wordless and imageless) Christian meditation and practiced in a weekly group meeting and on their own. Intent-to-treat analyses revealed several interaction effects (Condition ϫ Time), with the Christian meditation group (n ϭ 36) outperforming the wait-list group (n ϭ 35) on a variety of outcome measures, including experiences of humility and surrendering to God (medium effect sizes), as well as nonattachment and perseverative thinking (large effect sizes). Findings suggest that Christian meditation may hold promise as a daily practice among Christians for the prevention of emotional disorders. Study limitations and directions for future research are also discussed.
The effect of endothelial cells (EC) on lymphocyte mitogen responses was examined. Irradiated or mitomycin C treated EC were co-cultured with allogeneic peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM), and proliferative responses to pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were assessed by 3H-thymidine incorporation. Compared to lymphocyte responses in the absence of EC, EC co-culture enhanced PWM responses at 72 hours by 55 +/- 28%, 103 +/- 24%, and 96 +/- 9% at EC:PBM ratios of 1:30, 1:10, and 1:3, respectively. The EC co-culture also resulted in significant lymphocyte responses to otherwise submitogenic doses of PWM (10(-4) micrograms/ml) as well as an accelerated kinetics of response. There was no effect of EC on PHA responses. The EC effect appeared not to require cell contact for its expression; however, supernates of EC cultures were not capable of reproducing the effect. On a cell-for-cell basis, EC were more potent in enhancing responses of adherent-cell-depleted lymphocytes than either allogeneic or syngeneic monocytes. Fibroblasts could not substitute for EC in enhancing PWM response, suggesting that the effect was not a nonspecific feeder phenomenon. The EC may play a role in modulating some immune responses in vivo, especially those occurring in areas of inflammation, neovascularization, and endothelial cell proliferation.
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