1  683 183 EFFECT OF AN 8-WEEK YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION ON PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE AXIS, DISEASE ACTIVITY, AND PERCEIVED QUALITY OF LIFE IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. VARIOUS EXTERNAL STRESSORS AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES LEAD TO THE PROVOCATION OF THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IN AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES LIKE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA). THE INAPPROPRIATE IMMUNE RESPONSE FURTHER TRIGGERS THE CASCADE OF INFLAMMATORY CHANGES RESULTING IN PRECIPITATION OF SYMPTOMS AND HAMPERS QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL). THE UNDERLYING PSYCHO-SOMATIC COMPONENT OF THE DISEASE REQUIRES A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO ITS TREATMENT DIMENSION RATHER THAN THE USE OF PHARMACOTHERAPY. THE APPLICABILITY OF MIND-BODY INTERVENTIONS HAS BECOME ESSENTIAL IN TODAY'S FAST-PACED LIFE. YOGA, A MIND-BODY TECHNIQUE, ALTERS THE MIND'S CAPACITY TO FACILITATE SYSTEMIC FUNCTIONING AT MULTIPLE ORGAN SYSTEM LEVELS. HENCE, WE CONDUCTED THIS STUDY TO EVALUATE THE IMPACT OF 8 WEEKS OF A YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION (YBLI) ON PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE MARKERS, GENE EXPRESSION PATTERNS, AND QOL IN RA PATIENTS ON ROUTINE MEDICAL THERAPY. A TOTAL OF 66 PATIENTS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS: YOGA GROUP OR NON-YOGA GROUP AND WERE ASSESSED FOR A PANEL OF INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES (IL-6, IL-17A, TNF-ALPHA, AND TGF-BETA), MIND-BODY COMMUNICATIVE MARKERS (BDNF, DHEAS, BETA-ENDORPHIN, AND SIRTUIN) AND TRANSCRIPT LEVELS OF VARIOUS GENES (IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, NFKB1, TGF-BETA, AND CTLA4). WE ASSESSED DISEASE ACTIVITY AND QOL USING THE DAS28-ESR AND WHOQOL-BREF QUESTIONNAIRE, RESPECTIVELY. YOGA GROUP OBSERVED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LEVELS OF MARKERS, WHICH INFLUENCED THE PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE AXIS (P < 0.001) WITH AN ESTIMATED EFFECT SIZE FROM SMALL TO MEDIUM RANGE. IN THE YOGA GROUP, THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN DAS28-ESR (P < 0.001) AND IMPROVEMENT SEEN IN THE PHYSICAL HEALTH, PSYCHOLOGICAL, SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS DOMAINS (P < 0.001) OF QOL, EXCEPT ENVIRONMENTAL (P > 0.05). THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED DOWNREGULATION OF IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, AND CTLA4 AND UPREGULATION OF TGF-BETA. THESE RESULTS SUGGEST THAT A DECREASE IN DISEASE ACTIVITY AFTER YOGA PRACTICE IS ASSOCIATED WITH A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES, THE ELEVATION OF MIND-BODY COMMUNICATIVE MARKERS, AND NORMALIZATION OF VARIOUS TRANSCRIPT LEVELS, WHICH IMPROVED QOL. THUS THE ADOPTION OF YBLI IMPROVES CLINICAL OUTCOME IN RA, AND DECREASES SYSTEMIC INFLAMMATION BY ITS BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON PSYCHO-NEURO-IMMUNE AXIS AND NORMALIZATION OF DYSREGULATED TRANSCRIPTS. THUS YBLI MAY BE USED FOR RA PATIENTS AS AN ADJUNCTIVE THERAPY.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                             
2  859  37 EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE ON LEVELS OF INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AFTER MODERATE AND STRENUOUS EXERCISE. BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: TO EVALUATE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICE AND EXERCISE CHALLENGE ON TUMOUR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA), INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6) LEVELS AND LIPID PROFILE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: TWO HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN SUBJECTS PARTICIPATED IN THE STUDY. ONE HUNDRED AND NINE VOLUNTEERS (51 MALES AND 58 FEMALES) IN THE AGE GROUP OF 20 TO 60 YEARS, WHO PRACTICED YOGA REGULARLY FOR OVER FIVE YEARS FOR A PERIOD OF ONE HOUR DAILY, PERFORMED A BOUT OF MODERATE EXERCISE AND A BOUT OF STRENUOUS EXERCISE AS PER STANDARDIZED SHUTTLE WALK TEST PROTOCOL. ANTHROPOMETRICALLY MATCHED, AGE MATCHED AND GENDER MATCHED SUBJECTS, WHO DID NOT PRACTICE YOGA (NON-YOGA GROUP) WERE CHOSEN AS CONTROLS (NON-YOGA, N=109). THE NON-YOGA GROUP ALSO PERFORMED SIMILAR EXERCISES. THE BLOOD SAMPLES OF BOTH THE GROUPS WERE COLLECTED BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXERCISES. TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 WAS ANALYSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE EXERCISE BY SANDWICH ELISA (ENZYME LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY). RESULTS: RESTING PLASMA TNF-ALPHA CONCENTRATION WAS SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER IN NON-YOGA GROUP WHEN COMPARED TO YOGA GROUP (P<0.05). THERE WAS AN INCREASE IN TNF-ALPHA LEVELS IN BOTH THE GROUPS IN RESPONSE TO STRENUOUS EXERCISE. THERE WAS NO GENDER DIFFERENCE IN TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 LEVELS BEFORE AND AFTER EXERCISE IN YOGA AND NON-YOGA GROUPS. CONCLUSION: REGULAR PRACTICE OF YOGA LOWERS BASAL TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 LEVELS. IT ALSO REDUCES THE EXTENT OF INCREASE OF TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 TO A PHYSICAL CHALLENGE OF MODERATE EXERCISE AND STRENUOUS EXERCISE. THERE IS NO SIGNIFICANT GENDER DIFFERENCE IN THE TNF-ALPHA AND IL-6 LEVELS. REGULAR PRACTICE OF YOGA CAN PROTECT THE INDIVIDUAL AGAINST INFLAMMATORY DISEASES BY FAVOURABLY ALTERING PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE LEVELS.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
3 2847  49 YOGA, MEDITATION AND MIND-BODY HEALTH: INCREASED BDNF, CORTISOL AWAKENING RESPONSE, AND ALTERED INFLAMMATORY MARKER EXPRESSION AFTER A 3-MONTH YOGA AND MEDITATION RETREAT. THIRTY-EIGHT INDIVIDUALS (MEAN AGE: 34.8 YEARS OLD) PARTICIPATING IN A 3-MONTH YOGA AND MEDITATION RETREAT WERE ASSESSED BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION FOR PSYCHOMETRIC MEASURES, BRAIN DERIVED NEUROTROPHIC FACTOR (BDNF), CIRCADIAN SALIVARY CORTISOL LEVELS, AND PRO- AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES. PARTICIPATION IN THE RETREAT WAS FOUND TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASES IN SELF-REPORTED ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION AS WELL AS INCREASES IN MINDFULNESS. AS HYPOTHESIZED, INCREASES IN THE PLASMA LEVELS OF BDNF AND INCREASES IN THE MAGNITUDE OF THE CORTISOL AWAKENING RESPONSE (CAR) WERE ALSO OBSERVED. THE NORMALIZED CHANGE IN BDNF LEVELS WAS INVERSELY CORRELATED WITH BSI-18 ANXIETY SCORES AT BOTH THE PRE-RETREAT (R = 0.40, P < 0.05) AND POST-RETREAT (R = 0.52, P < 0.005) SUCH THAT THOSE WITH GREATER ANXIETY SCORES TENDED TO EXHIBIT SMALLER PRE- TO POST-RETREAT INCREASES IN PLASMA BDNF LEVELS. IN LINE WITH A HYPOTHESIZED DECREASE IN INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES RESULTING FROM THE YOGA AND MEDITATION PRACTICES, WE FOUND THAT THE PLASMA LEVEL OF THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE INTERLEUKIN-10 WAS INCREASED AND THE PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE INTERLEUKIN-12 WAS REDUCED AFTER THE RETREAT. CONTRARY TO OUR INITIAL HYPOTHESES, PLASMA LEVELS OF OTHER PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES, INCLUDING INTERFERON GAMMA (IFN-GAMMA), TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF-ALPHA), INTERLEUKIN-1BETA (IL-1BETA), INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6), AND INTERLEUKIN-8 (IL-8) WERE INCREASED AFTER THE RETREAT. GIVEN EVIDENCE FROM PREVIOUS STUDIES OF THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF MEDITATIVE PRACTICES ON MENTAL FITNESS, AUTONOMIC HOMEOSTASIS AND INFLAMMATORY STATUS, WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THESE FINDINGS ARE RELATED TO THE MEDITATIVE PRACTICES THROUGHOUT THE RETREAT; HOWEVER, SOME OF THE OBSERVED CHANGES MAY ALSO BE RELATED TO OTHER ASPECTS OF THE RETREAT SUCH AS PHYSICAL EXERCISE-RELATED COMPONENTS OF THE YOGA PRACTICE AND DIET. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE PATTERNS OF CHANGE OBSERVED HERE REFLECT MIND-BODY INTEGRATION AND WELL-BEING. THE INCREASED BDNF LEVELS OBSERVED IS A POTENTIAL MEDIATOR BETWEEN MEDITATIVE PRACTICES AND BRAIN HEALTH, THE INCREASED CAR IS LIKELY A REFLECTION OF INCREASED DYNAMIC PHYSIOLOGICAL AROUSAL, AND THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE DUAL ENHANCEMENT OF PRO- AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE CHANGES TO HEALTHY IMMUNOLOGIC FUNCTIONING IS DISCUSSED.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
4  881  46 EFFECT OF YOGA TRAINING ON INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN IN EMPLOYEES OF SMALL-SCALE INDUSTRIES. OBJECTIVE: THE PRESENT STUDY INTENDS TO SEE THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICES ON LIPID PROFILE, INTERLEUKIN (IL)-6, TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF)-ALPHA, AND HIGH-SENSITIVITY-C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (HS-CRP) AMONG APPARENTLY HEALTHY ADULTS EXPOSED TO OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IN THE PRESENT STUDY, 48 PARTICIPANTS AGED 30-58 YEARS (41.5 +/- 5.2) WHO WERE EXPOSED TO OCCUPATIONAL HAZARDS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS, THAT IS, EXPERIMENTAL AND WAIT-LIST CONTROL. ALL THE PARTICIPANTS WERE ASSESSED FOR LIPID PROFILE, IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, AND HS-CRP AT THE BASELINE AND AFTER COMPLETION OF 3 MONTHS OF YOGA TRAINING INTERVENTION. THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP UNDERWENT YOGA TRAINING INTERVENTION FOR 1 H FOR 6 DAYS A WEEK FOR 3 MONTHS, WHEREAS CONTROL GROUP CONTINUED WITH THEIR DAILY ACTIVITIES EXCEPT YOGA TRAINING. DATA ANALYSIS WAS DONE USING STATISTICAL SOFTWARE SPSS VERSION 20.0. DATA WERE ANALYZED USING PAIRED T-TESTS AND INDEPENDENT T-TEST. RESULTS: THE RESULTS OF WITHIN GROUP COMPARISON REVEALED HIGHLY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CHOLESTEROL (P < 0.001), HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (P < 0.001), LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN (LDL)(P < 0.01), HS-CRP (P < 0.01), IL-6 (P < 0.001), AND TNF-ALPHA (P < 0.001) IN EXPERIMENTAL GROUP. COMPARISON BETWEEN EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUP REVEALED SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN CHOLESTEROL (P < 0.01), LDL (P < 0.05), IL-6 (P < 0.01), TNF-ALPHA (P < 0.01), AND HS-CRP (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: A YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION SEEMS TO BE A HIGHLY PROMISING ALTERNATIVE THERAPY WHICH FAVORABLY ALTERS INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND METABOLIC RISK FACTORS.	2017	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
5 1789  45 PRELIMINARY INDICATIONS OF THE EFFECT OF A BRIEF YOGA INTERVENTION ON MARKERS OF INFLAMMATION AND DNA METHYLATION IN CHRONICALLY STRESSED WOMEN. YOGA IS ASSOCIATED WITH REDUCED STRESS AND INCREASED WELL-BEING, ALTHOUGH THE MOLECULAR BASIS FOR THESE BENEFITS IS NOT CLEAR. MOUNTING EVIDENCE IMPLICATES THE IMMUNE RESPONSE, WITH CURRENT STUDIES FOCUSED ON PROTEIN IMMUNE MARKERS (SUCH AS CYTOKINES) IN CLINICAL POPULATIONS. TO EXPLORE THE MOLECULAR IMPACT, THIS PILOT STUDY USES A SUBSAMPLE (N=28) FROM A RANDOMISED WAITLIST CONTROL TRIAL INVESTIGATING THE IMPACT OF AN 8-WEEK YOGA INTERVENTION IN A COMMUNITY POPULATION OF WOMEN REPORTING PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS (N=116). WE MEASURED INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6), TUMOUR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF) AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP) PROTEIN LEVELS, AND THE DNA METHYLATION OF THESE GENES AND THE GLOBAL INDICATOR, LINE-1. CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THESE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES WERE EXPLORED, IDENTIFYING MODERATE CORRELATIONS WITH CRP PROTEIN LEVELS, AND METHYLATION OF IL-6, CRP AND LINE-1. MANY CYTOKINE SAMPLES WERE BELOW DETECTION, HOWEVER A MANN-WHITNEY U DEMONSTRATED A TREND OF MODERATE BETWEEN-GROUP EFFECT FOR ELEVATED IL-6 IN THE YOGA GROUP. METHYLATION ANALYSES APPLIED CROSS-SECTIONAL AND NON-CONTROLLED LONGITUDINAL ANALYSES. WAIST-TO-HEIGHT RATIO AND AGE WERE COVARIED. WE DEMONSTRATED REDUCED METHYLATION OF THE TNF REGION IN THE YOGA GROUP RELATIVE TO THE WAITLIST CONTROL GROUP. NO OTHER GENES DEMONSTRATED A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE. LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS FURTHER SUPPORTED THESE RESULTS. THIS STUDY IS ONE OF THE FIRST TO EXPLORE YOGA AND IMMUNOLOGICAL MARKERS IN A NON-CLINICAL POPULATION, AND IS THE FIRST STUDY TO EXPLORE DNA METHYLATION. THESE FINDINGS INDICATE THAT FURTHER RESEARCH INTO MOLECULAR IMPACT OF YOGA ON MARKERS OF IMMUNE FUNCTION IS WARRANTED, WITH LARGER STUDIES REQUIRED.	2016	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
6 2836  47 YOGA'S IMPACT ON INFLAMMATION, MOOD, AND FATIGUE IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. PURPOSE: TO EVALUATE YOGA'S IMPACT ON INFLAMMATION, MOOD, AND FATIGUE. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED 3-MONTH TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED WITH TWO POST-TREATMENT ASSESSMENTS OF 200 BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS ASSIGNED TO EITHER 12 WEEKS OF 90-MINUTE TWICE PER WEEK HATHA YOGA CLASSES OR A WAIT-LIST CONTROL. THE MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES WERE LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE-STIMULATED PRODUCTION OF PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES INTERLEUKIN-6 (IL-6), TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA), AND INTERLEUKIN-1BETA (IL-1BETA), AND SCORES ON THE MULTIDIMENSIONAL FATIGUE SYMPTOM INVENTORY-SHORT FORM (MFSI-SF), THE VITALITY SCALE FROM THE MEDICAL OUTCOMES STUDY 36-ITEM SHORT FORM (SF-36), AND THE CENTER FOR EPIDEMIOLOGICAL STUDIES-DEPRESSION (CES-D) SCALE. RESULTS: IMMEDIATELY POST-TREATMENT, FATIGUE WAS NOT LOWER (P > .05) BUT VITALITY WAS HIGHER (P = .01) IN THE YOGA GROUP COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP. AT 3 MONTHS POST-TREATMENT, FATIGUE WAS LOWER IN THE YOGA GROUP (P = .002), VITALITY WAS HIGHER (P = .01), AND IL-6 (P = .027), TNF-ALPHA (P = .027), AND IL-1BETA (P = .037) WERE LOWER FOR YOGA PARTICIPANTS COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP. GROUPS DID NOT DIFFER ON DEPRESSION AT EITHER TIME (P > .2). PLANNED SECONDARY ANALYSES SHOWED THAT THE FREQUENCY OF YOGA PRACTICE HAD STRONGER ASSOCIATIONS WITH FATIGUE AT BOTH POST-TREATMENT VISITS (P = .019; P < .001), AS WELL AS VITALITY (P = .016; P = .0045), BUT NOT DEPRESSION (P > .05) THAN SIMPLE GROUP ASSIGNMENT; MORE FREQUENT PRACTICE PRODUCED LARGER CHANGES. AT 3 MONTHS POST-TREATMENT, INCREASING YOGA PRACTICE ALSO LED TO A DECREASE IN IL-6 (P = .01) AND IL-1BETA (P = .03) PRODUCTION BUT NOT IN TNF-ALPHA PRODUCTION (P > .05). CONCLUSION: CHRONIC INFLAMMATION MAY FUEL DECLINES IN PHYSICAL FUNCTION LEADING TO FRAILTY AND DISABILITY. IF YOGA DAMPENS OR LIMITS BOTH FATIGUE AND INFLAMMATION, THEN REGULAR PRACTICE COULD HAVE SUBSTANTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
7  799  40 EFFECT OF YOGA MODULE ON PRO-INFLAMMATORY AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES IN INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF LONAVLA: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. INTRODUCTION: INFLAMMATORY MARKERS PLAY A VERY IMPORTANT ROLE IN BODY'S DEFENSE MECHANISM. PRO-INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY MARKERS COUNTERBALANCE EACH OTHER. IT IS EXTREMELY ESSENTIAL FOR THE BODY TO MAINTAIN THEIR BALANCE FOR A GOOD IMMUNE RESPONSE. OBJECTIVES: TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF YOGA PRACTICES ON SELECTED PRO-INFLAMMATORY AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE AMONG INDUSTRIAL WORKERS. MATERIALS AND METHODS: FORTY EIGHT MALE STUDY PARTICIPANTS, AGED 30-58 YEARS, WERE RANDOMLY DIVIDED INTO EXPERIMENTAL (N=24) & CONTROL (N=24) GROUPS. PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE IL-1BETA AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE IL-10 WERE EVALUATED AT THE BASELINE AND AT THE END OF 12 WK OF YOGA TRAINING IN BOTH THE GROUPS. DURING THE EXPERIMENTAL STUDY, ALL THE STUDY PARTICIPANTS CONTINUED WITH THEIR DAILY LIFESTYLE AND DIET. DATA WERE ANALYSED USING PAIRED T-TEST AND INDEPENDENT T-TEST. RESULTS: THE RESULT OF WITHIN GROUP COMPARISON REVEALED THAT THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN IL-1 BETA WHILE SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN IL-10 (P < 0.05), WHEREAS THE CONTROL GROUP REVEALED NO CHANGE IN IL-1 BETA (P > 0.05) AND IL-10 (P > 0.05). FURTHER, THE RESULTS BETWEEN THE GROUPS CONFIRMED THAT THE YOGA GROUP HAD SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER LEVEL OF IL-1 BETA AND INCREASE IN IL-10 AS COMPARED TO CONTROL GROUP (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: THE PRESENT STUDY HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT YOGA PRACTICES COULD REDUCE PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE AND INCREASE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE IN INDUSTRIAL WORKERS.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
8 2768  56 YOGA REDUCES INFLAMMATORY SIGNALING IN FATIGUED BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: YOGA IS A POPULAR MIND-BODY THERAPY THAT HAS DEMONSTRATED BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON PSYCHOLOGICAL, BEHAVIORAL, AND FUNCTIONAL OUTCOMES. HOWEVER, FEW STUDIES HAVE INVESTIGATED EFFECTS ON INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES. THIS STUDY TESTED THE HYPOTHESIS THAT AN IYENGAR YOGA INTERVENTION SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED FOR FATIGUED BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WOULD LEAD TO DECREASES IN INFLAMMATION-RELATED GENE EXPRESSION AND CIRCULATING MARKERS OF PROINFLAMMATORY CYTOKINE ACTIVITY. METHODS: BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WITH PERSISTENT CANCER-RELATED FATIGUE WERE RANDOMIZED TO A 12-WEEK IYENGAR YOGA INTERVENTION (N=16) OR A 12-WEEK HEALTH EDUCATION CONTROL CONDITION (N=15). BLOOD SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED AT BASELINE, POST-INTERVENTION, AND AT A 3-MONTH FOLLOW-UP FOR GENOME-WIDE TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILING AND BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSES. PLASMA INFLAMMATORY MARKERS AND SALIVARY CORTISOL WERE ALSO ASSESSED. RESULTS: IN PROMOTER-BASED BIOINFORMATICS ANALYSES, THE YOGA GROUP SHOWED REDUCED ACTIVITY OF THE PRO-INFLAMMATORY TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR NUCLEAR FACTOR KAPPA B (NF-KAPPAB), INCREASED ACTIVITY OF THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTOR, AND REDUCED ACTIVITY OF CAMP RESPONSE ELEMENT-BINDING PROTEIN (CREB) FAMILY TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS RELATIVE TO CONTROLS (ALL PS<.05). THERE WAS ALSO A SIGNIFICANT INTERVENTION EFFECT ON THE SOLUBLE TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR RECEPTOR TYPE II (STNF-RII), A MARKER OF TNF ACTIVITY; PLASMA LEVELS OF STNF-RII REMAINED STABLE IN THE YOGA GROUP, WHEREAS LEVELS OF THIS MARKER INCREASED IN THE HEALTH EDUCATION GROUP (P=.028). A SIMILAR, NON-SIGNIFICANT TREND WAS OBSERVED FOR THE INTERLEUKIN 1 RECEPTOR ANTAGONIST (P=.16). NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN C REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP), INTERLEUKIN 6 (IL-6), OR DIURNAL CORTISOL MEASURES WERE OBSERVED. CONCLUSIONS: A 12-WEEK RESTORATIVE IYENGAR YOGA INTERVENTION REDUCED INFLAMMATION-RELATED GENE EXPRESSION IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WITH PERSISTENT FATIGUE. THESE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT A TARGETED YOGA PROGRAM MAY HAVE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS ON INFLAMMATORY ACTIVITY IN THIS PATIENT POPULATION, WITH POTENTIAL RELEVANCE FOR BEHAVIORAL AND PHYSICAL HEALTH.	2014	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
9 1018  43 EFFECTS OF SIX MONTHS OF YOGA ON INFLAMMATORY SERUM MARKERS PROGNOSTIC OF RECURRENCE RISK IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS. YOGA-BASED EXERCISE HAS PROVEN TO BE BENEFICIAL FOR PRACTITIONERS, INCLUDING CANCER SURVIVORS. THIS STUDY REPORTS ON THE EFFECT ON INFLAMMATORY BIOLOGICAL MARKERS FOR 20 BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS WHO PARTICIPATED IN A SIX-MONTH YOGA-BASED (YE) EXERCISE PROGRAM. RESULTS ARE COMPARED TO A COMPREHENSIVE EXERCISE (CE) PROGRAM GROUP AND A COMPARISON (C) EXERCISE GROUP WHO CHOSE THEIR OWN EXERCISES. "PRE" AND "POST" ASSESSMENTS INCLUDED MEASURES OF ANTHROPOMETRICS, CARDIORESPIRATORY CAPACITY, AND INFLAMMATORY MARKERS INTERLEUKIN 6 (IL-6), INTERLEUKIN 8 (IL-8), TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR ALPHA (TNFALPHA) AND C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP). DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS, EFFECT SIZE (D), AND DEPENDENT SAMPLE 'T' TESTS FOR ALL OUTCOME MEASURES WERE CALCULATED FOR THE YE GROUP. SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENTS WERE SEEN IN DECREASED % BODY FAT, (-3.00%, D = -0.44, P = <.001) BUT NOT IN CARDIORESPIRATORY CAPACITY OR IN INFLAMMATORY SERUM MARKERS. TO COMPARE YE OUTCOMES WITH THE OTHER TWO GROUPS, A ONE-WAY ANALYSIS OF CO-VARIANCE (ANCOVA) WAS USED, CONTROLLING FOR AGE, BMI, CARDIORESPIRATORY CAPACITY AND SERUM MARKER BASELINE VALUES. WE FOUND NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GROUPS. MOREOVER, WE DID NOT SEE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN ANY INFLAMMATORY MARKER FOR ANY GROUP. OUR RESULTS SUPPORT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOGA-BASED EXERCISE MODIFIED FOR BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS FOR IMPROVING BODY COMPOSITION. LARGER STUDIES ARE NEEDED TO DETERMINE IF THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES IN INFLAMMATORY SERUM MARKERS AS A RESULT OF SPECIFIC EXERCISE MODALITIES.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            
10  508  43 COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF A 12 WEEK YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION AND DIETARY INTERVENTION ON ADIPOKINES, INFLAMMATION, AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN ADULTS WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. THE PRESENT RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (RCT) EVALUATED THE COMPARATIVE EFFICACY OF 12 WEEK YOGA-BASED LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION (YBLI) AND DIETARY INTERVENTION (DI) ALONE ON ADIPOKINES, INFLAMMATION, AND OXIDATIVE STRESS IN INDIAN ADULTS WITH METABOLIC SYNDROME (MET S). A PARALLEL, TWO ARM, RCT WAS CONDUCTED IN INTEGRAL HEALTH CLINIC (IHC), ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, INDIA FROM 2012 TO 2014. IHC IS AN OUTPATIENT FACILITY CONDUCTING YBLI PROGRAMS FOR PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT OF CHRONIC DISEASES. TWO HUNDRED SIXTY MEN AND WOMEN (20-45 YEARS) VISITING THE OUTPATIENT DEPARTMENT OF A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL WERE DIAGNOSED WITH MET S AND RANDOMIZED 1:1 TO RECEIVE 12 WEEK YBLI (N = 130) OR DI (N = 130). PRIMARY OUTCOMES WERE CHANGE IN PLASMA LEVELS OF ADIPOKINES (LEPTIN, ADIPONECTIN, AND LEPTIN:ADIPONECTIN RATIO), MARKERS OF INFLAMMATION (TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR [TNF]-ALPHA, INTERLEUKIN [IL]-6), MARKERS OF OXIDATIVE STRESS (THIOBARBITURIC ACID REACTIVE SUBSTANCES [TBARS], 8-HYDROXY-2'-DEOXYGUANOSINE [8-OHDG], AND SUPEROXIDE DISMUTASE [SOD]) MEASURED AT BASELINE, 2 WEEKS, AND 12 WEEKS. YBLI GROUP SHOWED A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN LEPTIN, LEPTIN:ADIPONECTIN RATIO, IL-6, 8-OHDG, AND TBARS LEVELS, WHEREAS THERE WAS A SIGNIFICANT INCREASE IN ADIPONECTIN AND SOD LEVELS. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE NOTICED IN DI ALONE GROUP. YBLI SHOWED SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER REDUCTION IN TBARS LEVELS THAN IN DI GROUP, SUGGESTIVE OF REDUCED OXIDATIVE STRESS IN ADULTS WITH MET S. A 12 WEEK YBLI HAD A POSITIVE IMPACT ON OXIDATIVE STRESS VERSUS DI ALONE IN ADULTS WITH MET S.	2019	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
11 1149  39 ENHANCEMENT OF CANCER STEM CELL SUSCEPTIBILITY TO CONVENTIONAL TREATMENTS THROUGH COMPLEMENTARY YOGA THERAPY: POSSIBLE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS. CANCER STEM CELLS (CSCS) ARE STEM-LIKE TUMOR POPULATIONS THAT ARE REPORTED TO CONTRIBUTE TOWARDS TUMOR GROWTH, MAINTENANCE AND RECURRENCE AFTER THERAPY. HYPOXIA INCREASES CSC FRACTION AND PROMOTES ACQUISITION OF A STEM-CELL-LIKE STATE. CANCER STEM CELLS ARE CRITICALLY DEPENDANT ON THE HYPOXIA-INDUCIBLE FACTOR-1 (HIF-1) FOR SURVIVAL, SELF-RENEWAL, TUMOR GROWTH AND MAINTENANCE OF THEIR UNDIFFERENTIATED PHENOTYPE. RECENT RESEARCHES SHOW THAT STAGE OF DIFFERENTIATION OF THE TUMOR CELLS IS PREDICTIVE OF THEIR SUSCEPTIBILITY TO NATURAL KILLER CELL (NK) CELL MEDIATED CYTOTOXICITY AND CANCER STEM CELLS ARE SIGNIFICANT TARGETS OF NK CELL CYTOTOXICITY. STUDIES ALSO SHOW THAT REVERSION OF TUMOR CELLS TO A LESS-DIFFERENTIATED PHENOTYPE CAN BE ACHIEVED BY BLOCKING NFKAPPAB. YOGA THERAPY (YOGIC LIFESTYLE MODIFICATIONS ENCOMPASSING PHYSICAL POSTURES, BREATHING PRACTICES, RELAXATION TECHNIQUES AND MEDITATIONS) IS KNOWN TO MODULATE NEURAL, ENDOCRINE AND IMMUNE FUNCTIONS AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL THROUGH INFLUENCING CELL CYCLE CONTROL, AGING, OXIDATIVE STRESS, APOPTOSIS AND SEVERAL PATHWAYS OF STRESS SIGNALING MOLECULES. YOGA THERAPY HAS ALSO BEEN SHOWN TO ENHANCE NATURAL KILLER CELL ACTIVITY AND MODULATE STRESS AND DNA DAMAGE IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS RECEIVING RADIOTHERAPY. RECENT STUDY FOUND THAT BRIEF DAILY YOGIC MEDITATION MAY REVERSE THE PATTERN OF INCREASED NFKAPPAB-RELATED TRANSCRIPTION OF PRO-INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES IN LEUKOCYTES. THUS, YOGA THERAPY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO REDUCE CANCER STEM CELL SURVIVAL, SELF -RENEWAL AND TUMOR GROWTH BY MODIFYING THE TUMOR MICRO-ENVIRONMENT THROUGH VARIOUS MECHANISMS SUCH AS; 1) REDUCING HIF-1 ACTIVITY BY ENHANCED OXYGENATION, 2) PROMOTING NK CELL ACTIVITY DIRECTLY (OR INDIRECTLY THROUGH DOWN REGULATING NFKAPPAB EXPRESSION), THEREBY ENHANCING NK CELL MEDIATED CSC LYSIS, AND 3) BY MINIMIZING THE ABERRANT EXPRESSIONS OR ACTIVITIES OF VARIOUS HORMONES, CYTOKINES, CHEMOKINES AND TUMOR SIGNALING PATHWAYS. YOGA THERAPY MAY HAVE A SYNERGISTIC EFFECT WITH CONVENTIONAL MODALITIES OF TREATMENT IN PREVENTING CANCER PROGRESSION AND RECURRENCES.	2012	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
12  451  49 CHANGES IN FATIGUE, AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS, AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS DUE TO SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME. BACKGROUND: IN A PREVIOUS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, WE FOUND THAT SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA IMPROVES FATIGUE IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS) WHO ARE RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL THERAPY. THE AIM OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE POSSIBLE MECHANISMS BEHIND THIS FINDING, FOCUSING ON THE SHORT-TERM FATIGUE-RELIEVING EFFECT, BY COMPARING AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTION AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS BEFORE AND AFTER A SESSION OF ISOMETRIC YOGA. METHODS: FIFTEEN PATIENTS WITH CFS WHO REMAINED SYMPTOMATIC DESPITE AT LEAST 6 MONTHS OF CONVENTIONAL THERAPY PRACTICED SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA (BIWEEKLY 20 MIN PRACTICE WITH A YOGA INSTRUCTOR AND DAILY HOME PRACTICE) FOR EIGHT WEEKS. ACUTE EFFECTS OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE, AUTONOMIC FUNCTION, AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS WERE INVESTIGATED AFTER THE FINAL SESSION WITH AN INSTRUCTOR. THE EFFECT OF A SINGLE SESSION OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE WAS ASSESSED BY THE PROFILE OF MOOD STATUS (POMS) QUESTIONNAIRE IMMEDIATELY BEFORE AND AFTER THE SESSION. AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTION (HEART RATE (HR) VARIABILITY) AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS (CORTISOL, DHEA-S, TNF-ALPHA, IL-6, IFN-GAMMA, IFN-ALPHA, PROLACTIN, CARNITINE, TGF-BETA1, BDNF, MHPG, AND HVA) WERE COMPARED BEFORE AND AFTER THE SESSION. RESULTS: SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE POMS FATIGUE SCORE (P < 0.01) AND INCREASED THE VIGOR SCORE (P < 0.01). IT ALSO REDUCED HR (P < 0.05) AND INCREASED THE HIGH FREQUENCY POWER (P < 0.05) OF HR VARIABILITY. SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA INCREASED SERUM LEVELS OF DHEA-S (P < 0.05), REDUCED LEVELS OF CORTISOL (P < 0.05) AND TNF-ALPHA (P < 0.05), AND HAD A TENDENCY TO REDUCE SERUM LEVELS OF PROLACTIN (P < 0.1). DECREASES IN FATIGUE SCORES CORRELATED WITH CHANGES IN PLASMA LEVELS OF TGF-BETA1 AND BDNF. IN CONTRAST, INCREASED VIGOR POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH HVA. CONCLUSIONS: A SINGLE SESSION OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA REDUCED FATIGUE AND INCREASED VIGOR IN PATIENTS WITH CFS. YOGA ALSO INCREASED VAGAL NERVE FUNCTION AND CHANGED BLOOD BIOMARKERS IN A PATTERN THAT SUGGESTED ANTI-STRESS AND ANTI-INFLAMMATORY EFFECTS. THESE CHANGES APPEAR TO BE RELATED TO THE SHORT-TERM FATIGUE-RELIEVING EFFECT OF SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA IN PATIENTS WITH CFS. FURTHERMORE, DOPAMINERGIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ACTIVATION MIGHT ACCOUNT FOR SITTING ISOMETRIC YOGA-INDUCED INCREASES IN ENERGY IN THIS PATIENT POPULATION. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK (UMIN CTR) UMIN000009646. REGISTERED DEC 27, 2012.	2018	
                                                                                                                                                  
13 1462  45 INFLUENCE OF YOGA ON POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES AND WOUND HEALING IN EARLY OPERABLE BREAST CANCER PATIENTS UNDERGOING SURGERY. CONTEXT: PRE- AND POSTOPERATIVE DISTRESS IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS CAN CAUSE COMPLICATIONS AND DELAY RECOVERY FROM SURGERY. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF OUR STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTION ON POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES AND WOUND HEALING IN EARLY OPERABLE BREAST CANCER PATIENTS UNDERGOING SURGERY. METHODS: NINETY-EIGHT RECENTLY DIAGNOSED STAGE II AND III BREAST CANCER PATIENTS WERE RECRUITED IN A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL COMPARING THE EFFECTS OF A YOGA PROGRAM WITH SUPPORTIVE THERAPY AND EXERCISE REHABILITATION ON POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES AND WOUND HEALING FOLLOWING SURGERY. SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED AT THE BASELINE PRIOR TO SURGERY AND FOUR WEEKS LATER. SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC, CLINICAL AND INVESTIGATIVE NOTES WERE ASCERTAINED IN THE BEGINNING OF THE STUDY. BLOOD SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED FOR ESTIMATION OF PLASMA CYTOKINES-SOLUBLE INTERLEUKIN (IL)-2 RECEPTOR (IL-2R), TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR (TNF)-ALPHA AND INTERFERON (IFN)-GAMMA. POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES SUCH AS THE DURATION OF HOSPITAL STAY AND DRAIN RETENTION, TIME OF SUTURE REMOVAL AND POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS WERE ASCERTAINED. WE USED INDEPENDENT SAMPLES T TEST AND NONPARAMETRIC MANN WHITNEY U TESTS TO COMPARE GROUPS FOR POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES AND PLASMA CYTOKINES. REGRESSION ANALYSIS WAS DONE TO DETERMINE PREDICTORS FOR POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES. RESULTS: SIXTY-NINE PATIENTS CONTRIBUTED DATA TO THE CURRENT ANALYSIS (YOGA: N = 33, CONTROL: N = 36). THE RESULTS SUGGEST A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE DURATION OF HOSPITAL STAY (P = 0.003), DAYS OF DRAIN RETENTION (P = 0.001) AND DAYS FOR SUTURE REMOVAL (P = 0.03) IN THE YOGA GROUP AS COMPARED TO THE CONTROLS. THERE WAS ALSO A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN PLASMA TNF ALPHA LEVELS FOLLOWING SURGERY IN THE YOGA GROUP (P < 0.001), AS COMPARED TO THE CONTROLS. REGRESSION ANALYSIS ON POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES SHOWED THAT THE YOGA INTERVENTION AFFECTED THE DURATION OF DRAIN RETENTION AND HOSPITAL STAY AS WELL AS TNF ALPHA LEVELS. CONCLUSION: THE RESULTS SUGGEST POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF YOGA IN REDUCING POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS.	2008	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
14  871  58 EFFECT OF YOGA THERAPY ON DISEASE ACTIVITY, INFLAMMATORY MARKERS, AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS. BACKGROUND: RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (RA) IS AN IMMUNE-MEDIATED INFLAMMATORY DISEASE. ANTIRHEUMATOID TREATMENT REDUCES DISEASE ACTIVITY AND INFLAMMATION, BUT NOT ALL PATIENTS RESPOND TO TREATMENT. AUTONOMIC DYSFUNCTION IS COMMON IN RA LEADING TO FREQUENT CARDIOVASCULAR COMPLICATIONS. YOGA THERAPY MAY BE USEFUL IN THESE PATIENTS, BUT THERE ARE LITTLE DATA ON THE EFFECT OF YOGA ON DISEASE ACTIVITY, INFLAMMATORY MARKERS, AND HEART RATE VARIABILITY (HRV). OBJECTIVES: THIS STUDY ASSESSED THE EFFECT OF 12-WEEK YOGA THERAPY ON DISEASE ACTIVITY, INFLAMMATORY MARKERS, AND HRV IN PATIENTS WITH RA. MATERIALS AND METHODS: THIS RANDOMIZED CONTROL TRIAL WAS CONDUCTED ON NEWLY DIAGNOSED RA PATIENTS ATTENDING OUTPATIENT SERVICES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF CLINICAL IMMUNOLOGY, JIPMER. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX PARTICIPANTS WERE RANDOMIZED INTO TWO GROUPS: THE CONTROL GROUP (CG) (N = 83) AND YOGA GROUP (YG) (N = 83). YOGA THERAPY WAS ADMINISTERED TO PARTICIPANTS IN THE YG FOR 12 WEEKS, ALONG WITH STANDARD MEDICAL TREATMENT. THE CG RECEIVED ONLY STANDARD MEDICAL TREATMENT. PRIMARY OUTCOMES WERE DISEASE ACTIVITY SCORE 28, INTERLEUKIN-1ALPHA (IL-1ALPHA), IL-6, TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA), CORTISOL, AND HRV PARAMETERS. ALL PARAMETERS WERE MEASURED AT BASELINE AND AFTER 12 WEEKS. RESULTS: DISEASE ACTIVITY SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED IN BOTH GROUPS AFTER 12 WEEKS, BUT IT WAS REDUCED MORE IN YG, WHICH WAS STATISTICALLY SIGNIFICANT (P < 0.05). IN BOTH YG AND CG, IL-1ALPHA, IL-6, TNF-ALPHA, AND CORTISOL DECREASED AFTER 12 WEEKS, BUT IL-1ALPHA AND CORTISOL DECREASED MORE SIGNIFICANTLY IN YG THAN IN CG. LOW-FREQUENCY COMPONENT EXPRESSED AS NORMALIZED UNIT (LFNU) AND THE LOW-FREQUENCY/HIGH-FREQUENCY (LF-HF) RATIO DECREASED SIGNIFICANTLY, AND TOTAL POWER AND HF COMPONENT EXPRESSED AS NORMALIZED UNIT (HFNU) INCREASED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE YG COMPARED WITH CG. CONCLUSION: TWELVE-WEEK YOGA THERAPY, IF GIVEN ALONG WITH STANDARD MEDICAL TREATMENT, SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCES DISEASE ACTIVITY AND IMPROVES SYMPATHOVAGAL BALANCE IN RA PATIENTS.	2020	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        
15  392  45 BENEFITS OF YOGA ON IL-6: FINDINGS FROM A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF YOGA FOR DEPRESSION. THE PRESENT RESEARCH SOUGHT TO EXAMINE WHETHER HATHA YOGA, IMPLEMENTED AS AN ADJUNCTIVE INTERVENTION FOR MAJOR DEPRESSION, INFLUENCES MARKERS OF INFLAMMATION. A SUBSET OF 84 PARTICIPANTS WHO WERE ENROLLED IN A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL (RCT) OF HATHA YOGA VS. HEALTH EDUCATION CONTROL PROVIDED BLOOD SAMPLES AT BASELINE (PRE-TREATMENT) AND AT 3-(DURING TREATMENT) AND 10-WEEK (END OF TREATMENT) FOLLOW-UP VISITS. TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE RCT, PARTICIPANTS MET CRITERIA FOR A CURRENT OR RECENT (PAST TWO YEARS) MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODE, HAD CURRENT ELEVATED DEPRESSION SYMPTOMS, AND CURRENT ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATION USE. VENOUS BLOOD WAS DRAWN BETWEEN 2 AND 6 PM AND FOLLOWING AT LEAST ONE HOUR OF FASTING, AND INFLAMMATORY MARKERS (IL-6, CRP, AND TNF-ALPHA) WERE ASSAYED. EFFECTS OF PARTICIPATION IN YOGA RELATIVE TO HEALTH EDUCATION ON INFLAMMATORY MARKERS OVER TIME WERE EXAMINED WITH LATENT GROWTH ANALYSES. WE OBSERVED A SIGNIFICANT REDUCTION IN IL-6 CONCENTRATIONS IN THE YOGA TREATMENT GROUP RELATIVE TO THE HEALTH EDUCATION CONTROL GROUP AS DEMONSTRATED BY A NEGATIVE INTERACTION BETWEEN TREATMENT GROUP AND SLOPE OF IL-6. TNF-ALPHA AND CRP DID NOT EVIDENCE SIGNIFICANT INTERACTIONS OF TREATMENT GROUP BY MEAN SLOPE OR INTERCEPT. IN ADDITION TO THE BENEFITS OF HATHA YOGA AS AN ADJUNCTIVE INTERVENTION FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE SHOWN INADEQUATE RESPONSE TO ANTIDEPRESSANT MEDICATIONS, OUR FINDINGS POINT TO POSSIBLE BENEFITS OF YOGA ON IL-6 IN DEPRESSED POPULATIONS. FURTHER RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO EXPLORE THE EFFECTS OF HATHA YOGA ON IMMUNE FUNCTION OVER TIME.	2021	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
16 2250  54 THE LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA ON BLOOD BIOMARKERS, AUTONOMIC FUNCTIONS, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PARAMETERS OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME: A PILOT STUDY. BACKGROUND: IN A PREVIOUS RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL, WE FOUND THAT PRACTICING SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA REGULARLY FOR 2 MONTHS IMPROVED THE FATIGUE OF PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS) WHO ARE RESISTANT TO CONVENTIONAL THERAPY. THE AIM OF THIS PILOT STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE POSSIBLE MECHANISMS BEHIND THIS FINDING BY COMPARING BLOOD BIOMARKERS, AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL INDICES BEFORE VERSUS AFTER AN INTERVENTION PERIOD OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA PRACTICE. METHODS: FIFTEEN PATIENTS WITH CFS WHO DID NOT SHOW SATISFACTORY IMPROVEMENTS AFTER AT LEAST 6 MONTHS OF CONVENTIONAL THERAPY PRACTICED SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA (BIWEEKLY 20-MIN SESSIONS WITH A YOGA INSTRUCTOR AND DAILY PRACTICE AT HOME) FOR 2 MONTHS. THE LONGITUDINAL EFFECTS OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA ON FATIGUE, BLOOD BIOMARKERS, AUTONOMIC FUNCTION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL STATE WERE INVESTIGATED BY COMPARING THE FOLLOWING PARAMETERS BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION PERIOD: FATIGUE SEVERITY WAS ASSESSED BY THE CHALDER FATIGUE SCALE (FS) SCORE. LEVELS OF THE BLOOD BIOMARKERS CORTISOL, DHEA-S, TNF-ALPHA, IL-6, PROLACTIN, CARNITINE, TGF-BETA1, BDNF, MHPG, HVA, AND ALPHA-MSH WERE MEASURED. THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS FUNCTIONS ASSESSED WERE HEART RATE (HR) AND HR VARIABILITY. PSYCHOLOGICAL INDICES INCLUDED THE 20-ITEM TORONTO ALEXITHYMIA SCALE (TAS-20) AND THE HOSPITAL ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION SCALE (HADS). RESULTS: PRACTICING SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA FOR 2 MONTHS RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONS IN THE CHALDER FS (P = 0.002) AND HADS-DEPRESSION (P = 0.02) SCORES. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE OBSERVED IN ANY OTHER PARAMETER EVALUATED. THE CHANGE IN CHALDER FS SCORE WAS NOT CORRELATED WITH THE CHANGE IN HADS-DEPRESSION SCORE. HOWEVER, THIS CHANGE WAS POSITIVELY CORRELATED WITH CHANGES IN THE SERUM TNF-ALPHA LEVELS (P = 0.048), THE HIGH FREQUENCY COMPONENT OF HR VARIABILITY (P = 0.042), AND TAS-20 SCORES (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: REGULAR PRACTICE OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA FOR 2 MONTHS REDUCED THE FATIGUE AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOM SCORES OF PATIENTS WITH CFS WITHOUT AFFECTING ANY OTHER PARAMETERS WE INVESTIGATED. THIS STUDY FAILED TO IDENTIFY THE MARKERS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LONGITUDINAL FATIGUE-RELIEVING EFFECT OF SEATED ISOMETRIC YOGA. HOWEVER, CONSIDERING THAT THE REDUCED FATIGUE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED SERUM TNF-ALPHA LEVEL AND TAS-20 SCORES, FATIGUE IMPROVEMENT MIGHT BE RELATED TO REDUCED INFLAMMATION AND IMPROVED ALEXITHYMIA IN THESE PATIENTS. TRIAL REGISTRATION: UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL MEDICAL INFORMATION NETWORK (UMIN CTR) UMIN000009646. REGISTERED DEC 27, 2012.	2019	

17 1966  50 SERUM AND GENE EXPRESSION PROFILE OF CYTOKINES FOLLOWING COMBINATION OF YOGA TRAINING AND VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTATION IN BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL. BACKGROUND: THIS STUDY AIMED TO EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF THE COMBINATION OF YOGA TRAINING WITH HIGH VITAMIN D DOSE SUPPLEMENTATION ON THE EXPRESSION AND SYSTEMIC LEVELS OF INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES AND PSYCHOPHYSICAL STATUS OF BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS. METHODS: THIRTY VOLUNTEERED BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS (48 +/- 8 YEARS) WERE RANDOMLY ALLOCATED TO A HIGH DOSE (4000 IU) OF VITAMIN D SUPPLEMENTATION (HD) GROUP (N = 10), YOGA WITH A HIGH DOSE OF VITAMIN D (YHD) GROUP (N = 10), AND YOGA WITH A LOW DOSE (2000 IU) OF VITAMIN D (YLD) GROUP (N = 10). PARTICIPANTS PERFORMED THE HATHA YOGA STYLE FOR 12 WEEKS, TWICE A WEEK. BLOOD SAMPLES, QUALITY OF LIFE (QOL) QUESTIONNAIRE, AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE TESTS WERE TAKEN BEFORE AND AFTER THE INTERVENTION. RESULTS: BODY FAT PERCENTAGE (ETAP(2) = 0.36), HANDGRIP STRENGTH (ETAP(2) = 0.41) AND QOL INDICATORS INCLUDE GLOBAL HEALTH (ETAP(2) = 0.54), FUNCTIONAL SCALES (ETAP(2) = 0.49), AND SYMPTOMS SCALES (ETAP(2) = 0.50) WERE SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED IN THE BOTH YHD AND YLD GROUPS COMPARED TO THE HD GROUP (P < 0.05). ALSO, INTERLEUKIN-10 (IL-10) LEVELS WERE MARKEDLY INCREASED IN THE Y-HVD GROUP COMPARED TO THE Y-LVD AND HVD GROUPS. MOREOVER, THERE WERE SIGNIFICANT DECREASES IN TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA (TNF-ALPHA) AND INTERLEUKIN-6 LEVELS IN THE Y-HVD GROUP AFTER THE INTERVENTION. THE ANTI-INFLAMMATORY INDEX (IL-10/TNF-ALPHA) WAS SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IN BOTH THE YOGA GROUPS (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: YOGA PROMOTES PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FITNESS AND, IN COMBINATION WITH A HIGH DOSE OF VITAMIN D, IMPROVES THE CYTOKINE PROFILE, WHICH CAN EFFECTIVELY MANAGE THE SIDE EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH CANCER. TRIAL REGISTRATION IRCT20210726051993N2. REGISTRATION DATE: 2022/02/27. URL: HTTPS://WWW.IRCT.IR/TRIAL/62079.	2022	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
18 2001  34 STRESS, INFLAMMATION, AND YOGA PRACTICE. OBJECTIVE: TO ADDRESS THE MECHANISMS UNDERLYING HATHA YOGA'S POTENTIAL STRESS-REDUCTION BENEFITS, WE COMPARED INFLAMMATORY AND ENDOCRINE RESPONSES OF NOVICE AND EXPERT YOGA PRACTITIONERS BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A RESTORATIVE HATHA YOGA SESSION, AS WELL AS IN TWO CONTROL CONDITIONS. STRESSORS BEFORE EACH OF THE THREE CONDITIONS PROVIDED DATA ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH YOGA SPEEDED AN INDIVIDUAL'S PHYSIOLOGICAL RECOVERY. METHODS: A TOTAL OF 50 HEALTHY WOMEN (MEAN AGE, 41.32 YEARS; RANGE, 30-65 YEARS), 25 NOVICES AND 25 EXPERTS, WERE EXPOSED TO EACH OF THE CONDITIONS (YOGA, MOVEMENT CONTROL, AND PASSIVE-VIDEO CONTROL) DURING THREE SEPARATE VISITS. RESULTS: THE YOGA SESSION BOOSTED PARTICIPANTS' POSITIVE AFFECT COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL CONDITIONS, BUT NO OVERALL DIFFERENCES IN INFLAMMATORY OR ENDOCRINE RESPONSES WERE UNIQUE TO THE YOGA SESSION. IMPORTANTLY, EVEN THOUGH NOVICES AND EXPERTS DID NOT DIFFER ON KEY DIMENSIONS, INCLUDING AGE, ABDOMINAL ADIPOSITY, AND CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS, NOVICES' SERUM INTERLEUKIN (IL)-6 LEVELS WERE 41% HIGHER THAN THOSE OF EXPERTS ACROSS SESSIONS, AND THE ODDS OF A NOVICE HAVING DETECTABLE C-REACTIVE PROTEIN (CRP) WERE 4.75 TIMES AS HIGH AS THAT OF AN EXPERT. DIFFERENCES IN STRESS RESPONSES BETWEEN EXPERTS AND NOVICES PROVIDED ONE PLAUSIBLE MECHANISM FOR THEIR DIVERGENT SERUM IL-6 DATA; EXPERTS PRODUCED LESS LIPOPOLYSACCHARIDE-STIMULATED IL-6 IN RESPONSE TO THE STRESSOR THAN NOVICES, AND IL-6 PROMOTES CRP PRODUCTION. CONCLUSION: THE ABILITY TO MINIMIZE INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES TO STRESSFUL ENCOUNTERS INFLUENCES THE BURDEN THAT STRESSORS PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL. IF YOGA DAMPENS OR LIMITS STRESS-RELATED CHANGES, THEN REGULAR PRACTICE COULD HAVE SUBSTANTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS.	2010	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     
19 1889  46 REGULAR YOGA PRACTICE IMPROVES ANTIOXIDANT STATUS, IMMUNE FUNCTION, AND STRESS HORMONE RELEASES IN YOUNG HEALTHY PEOPLE: A RANDOMIZED, DOUBLE-BLIND, CONTROLLED PILOT STUDY. OBJECTIVE: THE AIM OF THE PRESENT STUDY IS TO HIGHLIGHT THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF YOGA PRACTICE ON BIO-PARAMETERS, SUCH AS OXIDATIVE STRESS, ANTIOXIDANT COMPONENTS, IMMUNE FUNCTIONS, AND SECRETION OF STRESS HORMONES, IN HEALTHY YOUNG PEOPLE. STUDY DESIGN: THIS STUDY WAS CONDUCTED ON HEALTHY VOLUNTEERS RECRUITED FROM AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, WHO WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS: A CONTROL (NO YOGA INTERVENTION, N=13) GROUP AND A YOGA (N=12) GROUP. YOGA PRACTICE WAS WITH AN INSTRUCTOR FOR 90 MINUTES ONCE A WEEK SPREAD OVER 12 WEEKS, WITH RECOMMENDATIONS TO PRACTICE DAILY AT HOME FOR 40 MINUTES WITH THE HELP OF A DVD. THE YOGA PROGRAM CONSISTED OF YOGA BODY POSES (ASANAS), EXERCISES INVOLVING AWARENESS, VOLUNTARY REGULATION OF BREATH (PRANAYAMA), AND MEDITATIONAL PRACTICES. WHOLE BLOOD SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED WHEN THE VOLUNTEERS HAD FASTED FOR 8 HOURS AT 0 AND 12 WEEKS. THE OXIDATIVE STRESS/ANTIOXIDANT COMPONENTS, IMMUNE-RELATED CYTOKINES, AND STRESS HORMONES WERE EVALUATED IN SERUM OR PLASMA. RESULTS: SERUM LEVELS OF NITRIC OXIDE, F2-ISOPROSTANE, AND LIPID PEROXIDE WERE SIGNIFICANTLY DECREASED BY YOGA PRACTICE (P<0.05 OR P=0.01), WHEREAS SERUM TOTAL GLUTATHIONE (GSH) CONTENTS, ACTIVITIES OF GSH-PEROXIDASE, AND GSH-S-TRANSFERASE WERE REMARKABLY INCREASED AFTER YOGA PRACTICE COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP (P<0.05 OR P=0.01). YOGA PRACTICE ALSO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASED IMMUNE-RELATED CYTOKINES, SUCH AS INTERLEUKIN-12, AND INTERFERON-GAMMA, IN SERUM (P<0.05 OR P=0.01). YOGA PRACTICE SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED THE PLASMA LEVELS OF ADRENALIN (P<0.05) AND INCREASED PLASMA LEVELS OF SEROTONIN COMPARED WITH THE CONTROL GROUP (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: REGULAR YOGA PRACTICE REMARKABLY ATTENUATED OXIDATIVE STRESS AND IMPROVED ANTIOXIDANT LEVELS OF THE BODY. MOREOVER, YOGA BENEFICIALLY AFFECTED STRESS HORMONE RELEASES AS WELL AS PARTIALLY IMPROVED IMMUNE FUNCTION.	2015	
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
20 1461  43 INFLUENCE OF YOGA ON MOOD STATES, DISTRESS, QUALITY OF LIFE AND IMMUNE OUTCOMES IN EARLY STAGE BREAST CANCER PATIENTS UNDERGOING SURGERY. CONTEXT: BREAST CANCER PATIENTS AWAITING SURGERY EXPERIENCE HEIGHTENED DISTRESS THAT COULD AFFECT POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES. AIMS: THE AIM OF OUR STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF YOGA INTERVENTION ON MOOD STATES, TREATMENT-RELATED SYMPTOMS, QUALITY OF LIFE AND IMMUNE OUTCOMES IN BREAST CANCER PATIENTS UNDERGOING SURGERY. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: NINETY-EIGHT RECENTLY DIAGNOSED STAGE II AND III BREAST CANCER PATIENTS WERE RECRUITED FOR A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL COMPARING THE EFFECTS OF A YOGA PROGRAM WITH SUPPORTIVE THERAPY PLUS EXERCISE REHABILITATION ON POSTOPERATIVE OUTCOMES FOLLOWING SURGERY. MATERIALS AND METHODS: SUBJECTS WERE ASSESSED PRIOR TO SURGERY AND FOUR WEEKS THEREAFTER. PSYCHOMETRIC INSTRUMENTS WERE USED TO ASSESS SELF-REPORTED ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, TREATMENT-RELATED DISTRESS AND QUALITY OF LIFE. BLOOD SAMPLES WERE COLLECTED FOR ENUMERATION OF T LYMPHOCYTE SUBSETS (CD4 %, CD8 % AND NATURAL KILLER (NK) CELL % COUNTS) AND SERUM IMMUNOGLOBULINS (IGG, IGA AND IGM). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: WE USED ANALYSIS OF COVARIANCE TO COMPARE INTERVENTIONS POSTOPERATIVELY. RESULTS: SIXTY-NINE PATIENTS CONTRIBUTED DATA TO THE CURRENT ANALYSIS (YOGA N = 33, CONTROL N = 36). THE RESULTS SUGGEST A SIGNIFICANT DECREASE IN THE STATE (P = 0.04) AND TRAIT (P = 0.004) OF ANXIETY, DEPRESSION (P = 0.01), SYMPTOM SEVERITY (P = 0.01), DISTRESS (P < 0.01) AND IMPROVEMENT IN QUALITY OF LIFE (P = 0.01) IN THE YOGA GROUP AS COMPARED TO THE CONTROLS. THERE WAS ALSO A SIGNIFICANTLY LESSER DECREASE IN CD 56% (P = 0.02) AND LOWER LEVELS OF SERUM IGA (P = 0.001) IN THE YOGA GROUP AS COMPARED TO CONTROLS FOLLOWING SURGERY. CONCLUSIONS: THE RESULTS SUGGEST POSSIBLE BENEFITS FOR YOGA IN REDUCING POSTOPERATIVE DISTRESS AND PREVENTING IMMUNE SUPPRESSION FOLLOWING SURGERY.	2008