Gene expression profiling in practitioners of Sudarshan Kriya.

BACKGROUND: The rapid pace of life, eating habits, and environmental pollution have increased stress levels and its related disorders. The complex molecular response to stress is mediated by stress genes and a variety of regulatory pathways. Oxidative stress is internal damage caused by reactive oxygen species. Increasing evidence suggests that chronic psychosocial stress may increase oxidative stress, which in turn may contribute to aging, and etiology of coronary diseases, cancer, arthritis, etc. Psychophysiological concomitants of meditation have been extensively researched, but there are very little data available on biochemical activity leading to relieving stress by causing a relaxation response by Sudarshan Kriya (SK). SK is a breathing technique that involves breathing in three different rhythms. It is preceded by Ujjayi Pranayam (long and deep breaths with constriction at the base of throat) and Bhastrika (fast and forceful breaths through nose along with arm movements). METHODS: Forty-two SK practitioners and 42 normal healthy controls were recruited for our study. The practitioners had practiced SK for at least 1 year. Selected normal healthy controls did not perform any conventional physical exercise or any formal stress management technique. Whole blood was used for glutathione peroxidase estimation and red blood cell lysate was used for superoxide dismutase activity assay and for glutathione estimation. White blood cells were isolated from fresh blood and assayed for gene expression using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. The parameters studied are antioxidant enzymes, genes involved in oxidative stress, DNA damage, cell cycle control, aging, and apoptosis. RESULTS: A better antioxidant status both at the enzyme activity and RNA level was seen in SK practitioners. This was accompanied by better stress regulation and better immune status due to prolonged life span of lymphocytes by up-regulation of antiapoptotic genes and prosurvival genes in these subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Our pilot study provides the first evidence suggesting that SK practice may exert effects on immunity, aging, cell death, and stress regulation through transcriptional regulation.

Chemotherapy alone vs. chemotherapy plus high dose multiple antioxidants in patients with advanced non small cell lung cancer.

OBJECTIVE: In vitro and animal studies suggest that antitumor effect of chemotherapeutic agents may be enhanced by antioxidants. Therefore, we initiated a clinical study to test the efficacy of high-dose multiple antioxidants (vitamins C, E and beta carotene) as an adjunct to chemotherapy (paclitaxel and carboplatin) in non-small-cell lung cancer. METHODS: 136 patients of stage IIIb and stage IV NSCLC were randomized to receive chemotherapy (paclitaxel and carboplatin) alone (chemotherapy arm, n = 72) or chemotherapy in combination with ascorbic acid 6100 mg/day, dl-alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) 1050 mg/day and beta-carotene 60 mg/day (combination arm, n = 64). Survival were calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method and compared using the log-rank test. RESULTS: An overall response rate (RR) of 33% was observed in chemotherapy arm with 24 patients showing a partial response (PR) and none showing a complete response (CR). In combination arm the overall RR was 37% with 24 patients showing PR and two showing CR. The median survival times in chemotherapy arm and combination arm were nine and 11 months respectively. The overall survival (OS) rates in chemotherapy arm and combination arm at one year were 32.9% and 39.1%, and at two years, 11.1% and 15.6% respectively. None of these differences were statistically significant (p = 0.20). Toxicity profiles were similar in both arms. CONCLUSIONS: These results do not support the concern that antioxidants might protect cancer cells from the free radical damage induced by chemotherapy. Larger trials are needed to demonstrate whether high-dose multiple antioxidants in conjunction with chemotherapy increase the response rates and/or survival time in advanced lung cancer.

Effect of rhythmic breathing (Sudarshan Kriya and Pranayam) on immune functions and tobacco addiction.

Stress, a psychophysiological process, acts through the immune-neuroendocrine axis and affects cellular processes of body and immune functions, leading to disease states including cancer. Stress is also linked to the habit of tobacco consumption and substance abuse, which in turn also leads to diseases. Sudarshan Kriya (SK) and Pranayam (P), rhythmic breathing processes, are known to reduce stress and improve immune functions. Cancer patients who had completed their standard therapy were studied. SK and P increased natural killer (NK) cells significantly (P <0.001) at 12 and 24 weeks of the practice compared to baseline. Increase in NK cells at 24 weeks was significant (P <0.05) compared to controls. There was no effect on T-cell subsets after SK and P either in the study group or among controls. SK and P helped to control the tobacco habit in 21% of individuals who were followed up to 6 months of practice. We conclude that the inexpensive and easy to learn and practice breathing processes (SK and P) in this study demonstrated an increase in NK cells and a reduction in tobacco consumption. When confirmed in large and randomized studies, this result could mean that the regular practice of SK and P might reduce the incidence and progression of cancer.

Sudarshan Kriya practitioners exhibit better antioxidant status and lower blood lactate levels.

Oxidative stress may contribute to the pathophysiology of many chronic diseases. Since psychosocial stress increases oxidative stress, we conducted an exploratory study to investigate the effects of stress reduction with the Sudarshan Kriya (SK) program, on superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, glutathione and blood lactate levels in practitioners and non-practitioners of SK. Blood samples of ten practitioners of SK and 14 non-practitioners of any formal stress management technique were analyzed for SOD, catalase, glutathione and lactate levels. Differences between groups and subgroups were analyzed by t-test and correlations between variables compared using Pearson's correlation coefficient. Significantly lower levels of blood lactate (P=3.118e-10) and higher levels of SOD (P=0.0001415), glutathione (P=2.038e-06) and catalase (P=0.001565) were found in practitioners as compared to non-practitioners of SK, thereby suggesting that lower levels of blood lactate and better antioxidant status in practitioners are associated with regular practice of SK technique. However, this study needs to be conducted on a larger sample size to confirm this effect.

Randomized study comparing 4'-epi-doxorubicin (epirubicin) versus doxorubicin as a part of induction treatment in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Doxorubicin or daunorubicin are routinely used to induce remission in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). Efficacy of epirubicin (an analog of doxorubicin), however, has not been adequately evaluated in ALL management. This randomized study was undertaken to compare the relative efficacy of epirubicin vs. doxorubicin as part of induction chemotherapy in adult ALL. Between January 1990 and June 1998, 79 previously untreated adult ALL patients (age 11-55 years, median 20 years) were randomized to receive either doxorubicin (Group A, n = 39) or epirubicin (Group B, n = 40) as a part of induction therapy. Vincristine and prednisolone were common in each group. The induction treatment was followed by identical consolidation and maintenance therapy. The two groups were compared as regards pretherapy clinical and laboratory parameters, dose intensity of therapy, therapeutic efficacy, myelotoxicity, and survival. Epirubicin was as effective as doxorubicin in terms of complete remission rate (80% vs. 78.3%; P = 0.87) and relapse rate (57.1% vs. 51.7%; P = 0.68). Five-year overall survival (30% vs. 30%, P = 0.98) and disease-free survival (40% vs. 39%, P = 0.92) at median follow-up of 68 months was also similar in the two groups. The incidence of Grade 4 myelotoxicity was comparable in the two groups. Patients 20 years of age or less had better CR rates (90% vs. 65%; P = 0.011) and median overall survival (39 vs. 11 months; P = 0.008) compared to those who were older. From this study epirubicin appears as effective as doxorubicin as part of induction therapy for adult ALL. However, the results need to be validated on the basis of immunophenotype and cytogenetic prognostic characterization.