An Intensive Mind and Body Therapeutic Program Leads to Alteration in Gene Expression Critical to Aging Process in Peripheral Blood Stem Cells

Abstract

Objective: Waiting to look young is not a new idea; the search for effective treatments prolonging youthfulness has been going on over many decades. Many scientific evidences have been suggestive of intensive or prolonged mind and body therapies (MBT) improving overall wellness and have anti-aging effects. However, the genetic basis of MBT-induced anti-aging and youthfulness are largely unknown. It is also known that aging adversely affects hematopoiesis in human through controlling compromised hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC's). In this paper, we focus on evaluating changes in the expression levels of a critical panel of genes that regulates aging in PBMNC's isolated from participants from MBT program. Design: Here, we have investigated the effects of a short intensive MBT program on aging related gene expression changes in the peripheral blood stem cells using affymetrix DNA microarray platform. A total of 108 people selected form many ethnicities were enrolled in the study; 38 men and 70 women (aged 18-90) randomly assigned for the study. PBMNC's were collected from the volunteers before and after the completion of the MBT program and evaluated for meditation by examining gene expression patterns in peripheral blood stem cells. Results: Critical pathways known to regulate aging process such as pro-inflammatory TNF alpha/NF-kB, IL-12 signaling pathway, hypoxic HIF-1-alpha, key regulator of programmed cell death, C-MYC, and P38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinase) signaling pathway found to be dysregulated in the cohorts compared to subjects prior to MBT program. Furthermore, GATA-2 and Bmi1, key regulators of hemtopoiesis and adult stem cells numbers, went up in the mediated group. Additionally, key pro-inflammatory mediators IFNγ and STAT-2 went down in the mediated group. Conclusion: MBT