Adiponectin potentially contributes to the anti-depressive effects of Baduanjin Qigong exercise in women with chronic fatigue syndrome-like illness.

Author: S J1, Li A2, Ng SM1, T R3, Xu A4, Yao TJ5, Wang XM3, So KF2, L C3
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup>Centre on Behavioral Health, Faculty of Social Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. <sup>2</sup>Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Institute of CNS Regeneration, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China. <sup>3</sup>Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Faculty of Social Science, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special AdministrationRegion (Hong Kong SAR), China. <sup>4</sup>Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. <sup>5</sup>Department of Biostatistics, Harvard C.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Conference/Journal: Cell Transplant.
Date published: 2016 Dec 7
Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.3727/096368916X694238. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 291

&lt;p&gt;Our recent study demonstrates that adiponectin signaling plays a significant role in mediating physical exercise-exerted effects on hippocampal neurogenesis and antidepression in mice. Whether the findings can be translated to humans remains unknown.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This study aimed to investigate the effects of Baduanjin Qigong exercise on adiponectin, and evaluate whether adiponectin is involved in the anti-depressive effects of Qigong exercise on chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)-like illness.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a randomized, waitlist-controlled trial. One hundred and eight female participants were randomly assigned to either Qigong exercise or waitlist groups. Sixteen 1.5-hour Qigong lessons were conducted. Outcome measures were taken at three time points.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Baseline adiponectin levels were negatively associated with body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference and waist/hip ratio in women with CFS-like illness. Compared with waitlist control, Qigong exercise significantly reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms, and significantly raised plasma adiponectin levels (median = 0.8 vs. -0.1, p &lt; 0.05). More interestingly, increases in adiponectin level following Qigong exercise were associated with decreases in depression score for the Qigong group (r = - 0.38, p = 0.04). Moreover, adjusted linear regression analysis further identified Qigong exercise and change in adiponectin level as the significant factors accounting for reduction of depressive symptoms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Baduanjin Qigong significantly increased adiponectin level in females with CFS-like illness. Decreases in depressive symptoms were associated with increases in adiponectin levels following Qigong exercise, indicating that the potential contribution of adiponectin to Qigong exercise-elicited anti-depressive effects in human subjects.&lt;/p&gt.

PMID: 27938498 DOI: 10.3727/096368916X694238