In a peer-reviewed paper published earlier this year Dr. Mendioroz and Dr. García-Campayo published their results investigating the relationship between DNA methylation changes and the length of telomeres in cells in people following a long-term meditation practice. As I have been committing more seriously to my meditation practice I love knowing the science behind the changes I am making in my body. The authors state:
“Notably, age showed no association with telomere length in the group of long-term meditators.”
Relationships between intergenic (chr4: 1514317–1514621), GPR31, and SERPINB9 DNA methylation levels and telomere length, according to group. The intergenic region (chr4: 1514317–1514621) is in the first row, GPR31 in the second, and SERPINB9 in the third. Long-term meditators are in the first column and controls are in the second. Methylation levels are represented in the horizontal axis (X), and telomeres length in the vertical axis (Y).
AUTHORS:
Maite Mendioroz, 1,2 Marta Puebla-Guedea, 3 Jesús Montero-Marín, 3,4 Amaya Urdánoz-Casado, 1 Idoia Blanco-Luquin, 1 Miren Roldán, 1 Alberto Labarga, 5 and Javier García-Campayo 3,6
AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS:
1 Neuroepigenetics Laboratory, Navarrabiomed Biomedical Research Center- UPNA-Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, 31008, Spain. maitemendilab@gmail.com.
2 Department of Neurology, Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra, Pamplona, Navarra, 31008, Spain. maitemendilab@gmail.com.
3 Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Aragón. Red de Investigación en Atención Primaria (REDIAPP), Zaragoza, Spain.
4 Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK.
5 Neuroepigenetics Laboratory, Navarrabiomed Biomedical Research Center- UPNA-Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, 31008, Spain.
6 Bioinformatics Unit, Navarrabiomed Biomedical Research Center - UPNA-Navarra Institute for Health Research (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Navarra, 31008, Spain.
7 Miguel Servet University Hospital, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.
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.
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61241-6
Link to full article is here.