***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: Therapeutic interventions that incorporate training in mindfulness meditation have become increasingly popular , but to date little is known about neural mechanisms associated with these interventions . Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction ( MBSR ) , one of the most widely used mindfulness training programs , has been reported to produce positive effects on psychological well-being and to ameliorate symptoms of a number of disorders . Here , we report a controlled longitudinal study to investigate pre-post changes in brain gray matter concentration attributable to participation in an MBSR program . Anatomical magnetic resonance ( MR ) images from 16 healthy , meditation-naïve participants were obtained before and after they underwent the 8-week program . Changes in gray matter concentration were investigated using voxel-based morphometry , and compared with a waiting list control group of 17 individuals . Analyses in a priori regions of interest confirmed increases in gray matter concentration within the left hippocampus . Whole brain analyses identified increases in the posterior cingulate cortex , the temporo-parietal junction , and the cerebellum in the MBSR group compared with the controls . The results suggest that participation in MBSR is associated with changes in gray matter concentration in brain regions involved in learning and memory processes , emotion regulation , self-referential processing , and perspective taking Introduction Irritable Bowel Syndrome ( IBS ) and Inflammatory Bowel Disease ( IBD ) can profoundly affect quality of life and are influenced by stress and resiliency . The impact of mind-body interventions ( MBIs ) on IBS and IBD patients has not previously been examined . Methods Nineteen IBS and 29 IBD patients were enrolled in a 9-week relaxation response based mind-body group intervention ( RR-MBI ) , focusing on elicitation of the RR and cognitive skill building . Symptom question naires and inflammatory markers were assessed pre- and post-intervention , and at short-term follow-up . Peripheral blood transcriptome analysis was performed to identify genomic correlates of the RR-MBI . Results Pain Catastrophizing Scale scores improved significantly post-intervention for IBD and at short-term follow-up for IBS and IBD . Trait Anxiety scores , IBS Quality of Life , IBS Symptom Severity Index , and IBD Question naire scores improved significantly post-intervention and at short-term follow-up for IBS and IBD , respectively . RR-MBI altered expression of more genes in IBD ( 1059 genes ) than in IBS ( 119 genes ) . In IBD , reduced expression of RR-MBI response genes was most significantly linked to inflammatory response , cell growth , proliferation , and oxidative stress-related pathways . In IBS , cell cycle regulation and DNA damage related gene sets were significantly upregulated after RR-MBI . Interactive network analysis of RR-affected pathways identified TNF , AKT and NF-κB as top focus molecules in IBS , while in IBD kinases ( e.g. MAPK , P38 MAPK ) , inflammation ( e.g. VEGF-C , NF-κB ) and cell cycle and proliferation ( e.g. UBC , APP ) related genes emerged as top focus molecules . Conclusions In this uncontrolled pilot study , participation in an RR-MBI was associated with improvements in disease-specific measures , trait anxiety , and pain catastrophizing in IBS and IBD patients . Moreover , observed gene expression changes suggest that NF-κB is a target focus molecule in both IBS and IBD— and that its regulation may contribute to counteracting the harmful effects of stress in both diseases . Larger , controlled studies are needed to confirm this preliminary finding . Trial Registration Clinical Trials . Gov One of the most common integrative medicine ( IM ) modalities is yoga and related practice s. Previous work has shown that yoga may improve wellness in healthy people and have benefits for patients . However , the mechanisms of how yoga may positively affect the mind-body system are largely unknown . Here we have assessed possible rapid changes in global gene expression profiles in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells ( P BMC s ) in healthy people that practice d either a comprehensive yoga program or a  control regimen . The experimental sessions included gentle yoga postures , breathing exercises , and meditation ( Sudarshan Kriya and Related Practice s – SK&P ) compared with a control regimen of a nature walk and listening to relaxing music . We show that the SK&P program has a rapid and significantly greater effect on gene expression in P BMC s compared with the control regimen . These data suggest that yoga and related practice s result in rapid gene expression alterations which may be the basis for their longer term cell biological and higher level health effects Background African Americans suffer from disproportionately high rates of hypertension and cardiovascular disease . Psychosocial stress , lifestyle and telomere dysfunction contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension and cardiovascular disease . This study evaluated effects of stress reduction and lifestyle modification on blood pressure , telomerase gene expression and lifestyle factors in African Americans . Methods Forty-eight African American men and women with stage I hypertension who participated in a larger r and omized controlled trial volunteered for this sub study . These subjects participated in either stress reduction with the Transcendental Meditation technique and a basic health education course ( SR ) or an extensive health education program ( EHE ) for 16 weeks . Primary outcomes were telomerase gene expression ( hTERT and hTR ) and clinic blood pressure . Secondary outcomes included lifestyle-related factors . Data were analyzed for within-group and between-group changes . Results Both groups showed increases in the two measures of telomerase gene expression , hTR mRNA levels ( SR : p < 0.001 ; EHE : p < 0.001 ) and hTERT mRNA levels ( SR : p = 0.055 ; EHE : p < 0.002 ) . However , no statistically significant between-group changes were observed . Both groups showed reductions in systolic BP . Adjusted changes were SR = -5.7 mm Hg , p < 0.01 ; EHE = -9.0 mm Hg , p < 0.001 with no statistically significant difference between group difference . There was a significant reduction in diastolic BP in the EHE group ( -5.3 mm Hg , p < 0.001 ) but not in SR ( -1.2 mm Hg , p = 0.42 ) ; the between-group difference was significant ( p = 0.04 ) . The EHE group showed a greater number of changes in lifestyle behaviors . Conclusion In this pilot trial , both stress reduction ( Transcendental Meditation technique plus health education ) and extensive health education groups demonstrated increased telomerase gene expression and reduced BP . The association between increased telomerase gene expression and reduced BP observed in this high-risk population suggest hypotheses that telomerase gene expression may either be a biomarker for reduced BP or a mechanism by which stress reduction and lifestyle modification reduces BP . Trial Registration Clinical Trials.gov Meditation is becoming increasingly practice d , especially for stress-related medical conditions .  Meditation may improve cellular health ; however , studies have not separated out effects of meditation from vacation-like effects in a residential r and omized controlled trial . We recruited healthy women non-meditators to live at a resort for 6 days and r and omized to either meditation retreat or relaxing on-site , with both groups compared with ‘ regular meditators ’ already enrolled in the retreat . Blood drawn at baseline and post intervention was assessed for transcriptome-wide expression patterns and aging-related biomarkers . Highly significant gene expression changes were detected across all groups ( the ‘ vacation effect ’ ) that could accurately predict ( 96 % accuracy ) between baseline and post-intervention states and were characterized by improved regulation of stress response , immune function and amyloid beta ( Aβ ) metabolism . Although a smaller set of genes was affected , regular meditators showed post-intervention differences in a gene network characterized by lower regulation of protein synthesis and viral genome activity . Changes in well-being were assessed post intervention relative to baseline , as well as 1 and 10 months later . All groups showed equivalently large immediate post-intervention improvements in well-being , but novice meditators showed greater maintenance of lower distress over time compared with those in the vacation arm . Regular meditators showed a trend toward increased telomerase activity compared with r and omized women , who showed increased plasma Aβ42/Aβ40 ratios and tumor necrosis factor alpha ( TNF-α ) levels . This highly controlled residential study showed large salutary changes in gene expression networks due to the vacation effect , common to all groups . For those already trained in the practice of meditation , a retreat appears to provide additional benefits to cellular health beyond the vacation effect Introduction The study aims to investigate two kinds of treatment in patients suffering from irritable bowel syndrome ( IBS ) and consequently compares its efficacy on improving the symptoms and mental health of patients ; one with just medical treatment and another through a combination of psychotherapy and medical treatment . Material and methods Applying general sampling , 50 IBS patients were selected from among those who used to refer to a Gastroenterology Clinic . After physical and mental evaluations based on ROME-II scale and SCL-90-R question naires , the subjects were r and omly superseded into : the control group with medical treatment and , the case group with a combination of medical and psychological treatments . The acquired data were then analyzed through t-test and Mann-Whitney U-test . Results The findings show that the mental health of patients receiving cognitive behavioral therapy along with the medical treatment was higher than those of the control group at post-test level . It was observed that the therapy reduces the disability caused by IBS . Comparatively , while the cognitive therapy and medical treatments  cured 80 % of the patients , those receiving cognitive therapy alone showed an extensive reduction of symptoms . Conclusions Considering the role of cognitive behavioral therapy , it is therefore recommend that such patients be managed by a combined team of gastroenterologists and psychologists BACKGROUND Mind-body therapies such as Tai Chi are widely used by breast cancer survivors , yet effects on inflammation are not known . This study hypothesized that Tai Chi Chih ( TCC ) would reduce systemic , cellular , and genomic markers of inflammation as compared with cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia ( CBT-I ) . METHODS In this r and omized trial for the treatment of insomnia , 90 breast cancer survivors with insomnia were assigned to TCC or CBT-I for 2-hour sessions weekly for 3 months . At baseline and postintervention , blood sample s were obtained for measurement of C-reactive protein and toll-like receptor-4-activated monocyte production of interleukin-6 ( IL-6 ) and tumor necrosis factor-α ( TNF ) , with a r and om sub sample ( n = 48 ) analyzed by genome-wide transcriptional profiling . RESULTS Levels of C-reactive protein did not change in the TCC and CBT-I groups . Levels of toll-like receptor-4-activated monocyte production of IL-6 and TNF combined showed an overall reduction in TCC versus CBT-I ( P < .02 ) , with similar effects for IL-6 ( P = .07 ) and TNF ( P < .05 ) alone . For genome-wide transcriptional profiling of circulating peripheral blood mononuclear cells , expression of genes encoding proinflammatory mediators showed an overall reduction in TCC versus CBT-I ( P = .001 ) . TELiS promoter-based bioinformatics analyses implicated a reduction of activity of the proinflammatory transcription factor , nuclear factor-κB , in structuring these differences . CONCLUSIONS Among breast cancer survivors with insomnia , 3 months of TCC reduced cellular inflammatory responses , and reduced expression of genes encoding proinflammatory mediators . Given the link between inflammation and cancer , these findings provide an evidence -based molecular framework to underst and the potential salutary effects of TCC on cancer survivorship BACKGROUND Although yoga and meditation have been used for stress reduction with reported improvement in inflammation , little is known about the biological mechanisms mediating such effects . The present study examined if a yogic meditation might alter the activity of inflammatory and antiviral transcription control pathways that shape immune cell gene expression . METHODS Forty-five family dementia caregivers were r and omized to either Kirtan Kriya Meditation ( KKM ) or Relaxing Music ( RM ) listening for 12 min daily for 8 weeks and 39 caregivers completed the study .  Genome-wide transcriptional profiles were collected from peripheral blood leukocytes sample d at baseline and 8-week follow-up . Promoter-based bioinformatics analyses tested the hypothesis that observed transcriptional alterations were structured by reduced activity of the pro-inflammatory nuclear factor (NF)-κB family of transcription factors and increased activity of Interferon Response Factors ( IRFs ; i.e. , reversal of patterns previously linked to stress ) . RESULTS In response to KKM treatment , 68 genes were found to be differentially expressed ( 19 up-regulated , 49 down-regulated ) after adjusting for potentially confounded differences in sex , illness burden , and BMI . Up-regulated genes included immunoglobulin-related transcripts . Down-regulated transcripts included pro-inflammatory cytokines and activation-related immediate-early genes . Transcript origin analyses identified plasmacytoid dendritic cells and B lymphocytes as the primary cellular context of these transcriptional alterations ( both p<.001 ) . Promoter-based bioinformatic analysis implicated reduced NF-κB signaling and increased activity of IRF1 in structuring those effects ( both p<.05 ) . CONCLUSION A brief daily yogic meditation intervention may reverse the pattern of increased NF-κB-related transcription of pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased IRF1-related transcription of innate antiviral response genes previously observed 
    Output:
    
Overall , the studies indicate that these practice s are associated with a downregulation of nuclear factor kappa B pathway ; this is the opposite of the effects of chronic stress on gene expression and suggests that MBI practice s may lead to a reduced risk of inflammation-related diseases .