Abstract
Mindfulness and meditation techniques have proven successful for the reduction of stress and improvement in general health. In addition, meditation is linked to longevity and longer telomere length, a proposed biomarker of human aging. Interestingly, DNA methylation changes have been described at specific subtelomeric regions in long-term meditators compared to controls. However, the molecular basis underlying these beneficial effects of meditation on human health still remains unclear. Here we show that DNA methylation levels, measured by the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (Illumina) array, at specific subtelomeric regions containing GPR31 and SERPINB9 genes were associated with telomere length in long-term meditators with a strong statistical trend when correcting for multiple testing. Notably, age showed no association with telomere length in the group of long-term meditators. These results may suggest that long-term meditation could be related to epigenetic mechanisms, in particular gene-specific DNA methylation changes at distinct subtelomeric regions.
Highlights
Mindfulness and meditation techniques have proven successful for the reduction of stress and improvement in general health
From our genome-wide DNA methylation differential analysis between long-term mindfulness meditators (MMs) and controls[35], we selected the group of 14 differentially methylated regions (DMRs) located in subtelomeric regions, involving chromosomes 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 16, 19, and 20
In this cross-sectional study, we have shown that telomere length is associated with DNA methylation levels in long-term MMs at three distinct subtelomeric regions, involving the GPR31 and SERPINB9 genes
Summary
Mindfulness and meditation techniques have proven successful for the reduction of stress and improvement in general health. Meditation is linked to longevity and longer telomere length, a proposed biomarker of human aging. DNA methylation changes have been described at specific subtelomeric regions in long-term meditators compared to controls. Age showed no association with telomere length in the group of long-term meditators These results may suggest that long-term meditation could be related to epigenetic mechanisms, in particular gene-specific DNA methylation changes at distinct subtelomeric regions. Intensive meditation training has been associated with an increase in telomerase activity[11] and longer telomere length in blood cells[12,13,14,15,16], which is considered a candidate biomarker of human aging. The importance of these epigenetic changes within the subtelomeric regions in meditators remains unclear
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