CD4+ T lymphocytes, or simply
CD4 T cells, are the "brains" of the immune system, coordinating its activity when the body comes under attack. They are also
the cells that are attacked by HIV, the devastating virus that causes AIDS and has infected roughly 40
million people worldwide. The virus slowly eats away at CD4 T cells, weakening the immune system.
But the immune systems
of HIV/AIDS patients face another enemy as well — stress, which can accelerate CD4 T cell declines. Now, researchers
at UCLA report that the practice of mindfulness meditation stopped the decline of CD4 T
cells in HIV-positive patients suffering from stress, slowing the progression of the disease. The study was just released in the online edition of the journal Brain, Behavior,
and Immunity.
Mindfulness meditation is
the practice of bringing an open and receptive awareness of the present moment to experiences, avoiding thinking of the past
or worrying about the future. It is thought to reduce stress and improve health outcomes in a variety of patient populations.
"This study provides the
first indication that mindfulness meditation stress-management training can have a direct impact on slowing HIV disease progression," said lead study author David Creswell,
a research scientist at the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA. "The mindfulness
program is a group-based and low-cost treatment, and if this initial finding is replicated in larger samples, it's possible
that such training can be used as a powerful complementary treatment for HIV disease, alongside medications."
Creswell and his colleagues
ran an eight-week mindfulness-based stress-reduction (MBSR) meditation program and compared it to a one-day MBSR control seminar, using a stressed and ethnically diverse sample of 48 HIV-positive adults in Los Angeles. Participants in the eight-week group showed no loss of
CD4 T cells, indicating that mindfulness meditation training can buffer declines. In contrast,
the control group showed significant declines in CD4 T cells from pre-study to post-study. Such declines are a characteristic
hallmark of HIV progression.
Creswell also noted that
researchers found a "dose-response" relationship between MBSR class attendance and CD4 T cells, meaning, said Creswell, "the
more mindfulness meditation classes people attended, the higher the CD4 T cells at the study's
conclusion."
The researchers were also
encouraged because the overall CD4 T cell effects remained even after controlling for a number of factors that could have
skewed the study results. Most notably, they found equivalent protective effects for participants whether or not they were
on antiretroviral medications for HIV. Even participants taking HIV medications showed the CD4 T cell buffering effect
after the mindfulness meditation class, Creswell said.
There is emerging evidence
from other studies that shows that behavioral stress-management programs can buffer HIV declines in HIV-positive people, Creswell noted. And while there has been an exponential
increase of interest in and practice of mindfulness meditation in the West over the
past 10 years, this study, he said, is the first to show an HIV disease protective effect with mindfulness
meditation training.
In order to understand the
health benefits of mindfulness meditation, Creswell and his colleagues at UCLA are now examining
the underlying pathways through which mindfulness meditation reduces stress, using brain imaging, genetics and immune system measurements.
"Given the stress-reduction benefits of mindfulness meditation training, these findings indicate there can
be health protective effects not just in people with HIV but in folks who suffer from daily stress," Creswell said.
This study was supported
by postdoctoral research fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health, a seed grant from the Cousins
Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA, and the UCLA General Clinical Research Center. Other authors were Hector F. Myers,
Steven W. Cole and Michael R. Irwin, all of whom declare no financial interests or conflicts of interest regarding this study.
The Cousins Center
for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA encompasses an interdisciplinary network of scientists working to advance
the understanding of psychoneuroimmunology by linking basic and clinical research programs and by translating findings into
clinical practice. The center is affiliated with the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the David Geffen
School of Medicine at UCLA.
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