Changes in circulating microRNA after recumbent isometric yoga practice by patients with ME/CFS: pilot study, 2019, Takakura,Oka,Sudo

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Abstract
Background
Yoga is a representative mind-body therapy. Our previous studies have demonstrated that isometric yoga (i.e. yoga programs that we developed so individuals can practice yoga poses with a self-adjustable isometric load) reduces the fatigue of patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS); however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Several studies have suggested that the micro-ribonucleic acid (miRNA) expression of ME/CFS patients is different from that of healthy subjects. However, it has not to date been determined if the practice of isometric yoga can affect miRNA expression. Therefore, we sought to investigate if isometric yoga is associated with changes in the expression levels of serum miRNA of patients with ME/CFS.

Methods
The study included nine patients with ME/CFS who failed to show satisfactory improvement after at least 6 months of treatment administered at our hospital. Patients practiced recumbent isometric yoga for 3 months; they met with a yoga instructor every 2 to 4 weeks and participated in daily in-home sessions. The effect of recumbent isometric yoga on fatigue was assessed by comparing pre- and post-intervention scores on the Japanese version of the 11-item Chalder fatigue scale (CFQ 11). Patient blood samples were drawn pre- and post-intervention, just prior to practicing recumbent isometric yoga with an instructor. The serum was used for miRNA array analysis with known human miRNAs.

Results
The average CFQ 11 score decreased significantly (from 25.3 ± 5.5 to 17.0 ± 5.8, p <  0.0001) after practicing recumbent isometric yoga for 3 months. The miRNA microarray analysis revealed that four miRNAs were significantly upregulated, and 42 were downregulated after the intervention period.

Conclusions
This explorative pilot study is the first to demonstrate changes in the serum levels of several miRNAs after regular practice of recumbent isometric yoga. These miRNAs might represent biomarkers for the fatigue-relieving effects of isometric yoga of patients with ME/CFS.
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https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13030-019-0171-2

eta: surprisingly 'tailored' to ME symptoms but uses CFQ
 
To be fair if I was settled in my house rather than in the process of moving out/in and various refurbishment activities and all the unavoidable physical activity that goes with that I would be likely to be able to manage to do this sort of exercise. As it’s lying down it looks quite achievable for me although g in particular and i would definitely be too much to start with. Bearing in mind of course I’m mild on good days moderate on worse days.
 
This is interesting, it's the misinterpretation of the Chalder Fatigue Scale that many suspect occurs in treatment trials:
When considering her condition, her CFQ 11 scores before and after the inter￾vention period seemed extremely low. When she was later questioned as to the reason, we found that it was due to her misunderstanding of the word “than usual” in the questionnaire. Whereas the intent was to compare
her current condition to when she last felt well, she had been sick and almost bed-bound for some years so she misunderstood “than usual” as “than the days sick in bed” because it had become a regular part of life for her. Because she felt that her symptoms became “less than” or “no more than” her “usual” sick days after practicing recumbent isometric yoga, her score was 5 after the intervention
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This was a study with only 9 participants, so the authors could look at each one of them to see what happened and how to interpret their symptom scores. It could be that the same misinterpretation occurs in larger studies, with nobody noting it.
 
Michiel Tack said:
This is interesting, it's the misinterpretation of the Chalder Fatigue Scale that many suspect occurs in treatment trials:


This was a study with only 9 participants, so the authors could look at each one of them to see what happened and how to interpret their symptom scores. It could be that the same misinterpretation occurs in larger studies, with nobody noting it.
Click to expand...

A bit of a sidenote, but both this scale and in general questionaires for studies/online studies doesn’t take in conciderstion just how long people can be sick. If you fall sick in youth, ME will usually be a lifelong illness.

I have given up answering and partisipating so many times, because there is no answer that fits.

There is no ‘as usual’ that is your healthy self to compare to, when you’ve been sick for decades.

And this is also a problem when defining recovery. There is no way I can recover to my former self in youth, there are no roles I used to have that I can fill again.

I’m sure there are studies with both missing and misleading data because of this. And the data that is misleading or missing will be about patients that have been sick the longest.

I’ve never seen a study trying to collect data on a how the illness developes over years.

There is always questions about ‘what are your symptoms now’ - but never anyway to report how symptoms have changed and developed over years.

I’m sorry, don’t know where I’m going with this. Just a bit of a rant I suppose
 
inox said:
A bit of a sidenote, but both this scale and in general questionaires for studies/online studies doesn’t take in conciderstion just how long people can be sick. If you fall sick in youth, ME will usually be a lifelong illness.

I have given up answering and partisipating so many times, because there is no answer that fits.

There is no ‘as usual’ that is your healthy self to compare to, when you’ve been sick for decades.

And this is also a problem when defining recovery. There is no way I can recover to my former self in youth, there are no roles I used to have that I can fill again.

I’m sure there are studies with both missing and misleading data because of this. And the data that is misleading or missing will be about patients that have been sick the longest.

I’ve never seen a study trying to collect data on a how the illness developes over years.

There is always questions about ‘what are your symptoms now’ - but never anyway to report how symptoms have changed and developed over years
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I agree, A big step back to look at why our health is deteriorating over time would be more useful. The BPS crowd can say it is deconditioning or psychological stress but where is the molecular and neurological science to back this up. There is none. Having worked in psych and have ME, I am increasingly wondering if this is neurovascular disorder.

As for yoga, the mitochondria is using the RNA to make cell outputs all the time. We need to know the mechanism for the oxidative stress that is being generated by the ME disease process. Current research has shown some supplements change the metabolomics of a cell and the epigenetic code for mitochondrial RNA but no change in the function for that person.
 
I loved yoga and used to practice regularly.

As I gradually became more ill I adapted my practice somuch of It could be done lying or seated in the floor with lots of rests and recovery periods.

Based on my n=1 experience I found that certain yoga positions wiped me out much more quickly than others.

Take Picture /position I for example. Instead of doing it this wayI might spend a little time in Child's pose instead - you're kneeling, sat back on your heels and fold forward, chest to knees forehead resting on the floor. Or if you're too stiff you stack your fists in front of you and rest your forehead on those.

This is supposed to be a resting position but I found as I became more ill, positions that compress my abdomen and torso absolutely wipe me out. I suspect the compression is raising my HR and that may be the problem.
 
The fact that Chalder designed a scale and people are willing to use it with "as usual" as part of the question means that they implicitly believe this is a short term disease.

They continually repeat that most people recover, and imply that everyone would recover if they followed their treatments properly.

So they see patients who have been ill for less than a year then abandon them yet other researchers are happy to use the scale!
 
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