Author: Yu Ye1,2,3,4, Mingyue Wan4, Huiying Lin4, Rui Xia4, Jianquan He4, Pingting Qiu4, Guohua Zheng1
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> College of Nursing and Health Management, Shanghai University of Medicine & Health Sciences, Shanghai, China.
<sup>2</sup> Medical School of Chinese PLA, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
<sup>3</sup> Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Beijing, China.
<sup>4</sup> College of Rehabilitation Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, China.
Conference/Journal: Front Public Health
Date published: 2024 May 23
Other:
Volume ID: 12 , Pages: 1385542 , Special Notes: doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1385542. , Word Count: 325
Background:
Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation play an important role in the pathogenesis process of cognitive frailty (CF). Regular Baduanjin exercise could improve cognitive frailty in older adults, but it is unclear whether the effect of Baduanjin exercise on improving CF is mediated by modulating circulating oxidative stress and inflammatory process.
Method:
A total of 102 community-dwelling older adults with CF were recruited and randomly allocated into a 24-week Baduanjin exercise training group or no specific exercise intervention control group at an equal rate. Cognitive function and physical frailty index were assessed using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) and the Edmonton Frail Scale (EFS), as well as the oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines were measured at baseline and after intervention.
Result:
After 24 weeks of intervention, the increased MoCA score (2.51 ± 0.32 points, p < 0.001) and the decreased EFS scores (1.94 ± 0.20 points, p = 0.012) in the Baduanjin group were significantly higher than those in the control group. Serum antioxidant SOD levels were increased by 10.03 ± 4.73 U/mL (p < 0.001), and the prooxidative MDA and 8-iso-PGF2α levels were decreased by -1.08 ± 0.80 nmol/mL (p = 0.030) and -86.61 ± 15.03 ng/L (p < 0.001) in the Baduanjin training group; while inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2 and IL-4 levels were increased (1.08 ± 0.33 pg./mL, p = 0.034, 2.74 ± 0.75 pg./mL, p = 0.04 and 1.48 ± 0.35 pg./mL, p = 0.042). In addition, a mediation effect that Baduanjin training improved cognitive ability mediated by an increase of circulating IFN-γ and IL-2 levels were observed in this study.
Conclusion:
Regular Baduanjin exercise training could improve the cognitive frailty of the community-dwelling older adults with CF, and modulate oxidative stress and inflammatory processes by reducing circulating pro-oxidative MDA and 8-iso-PGF2α levels and increasing anti-oxidative SOD levels, as well as impacting inflammatory cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-4 levels. Nevertheless, the mechanism of Baduanjin exercise mediating oxidative stress and inflammatory processes should be cautious to be explained.
Clinical trial registration:
http://www.chictr.org.cn/index.aspx, ChiCTR1800020341.
Keywords: Baduanjin; chronic inflammation; cognitive frailty; older adults; oxidative stress.
PMID: 38846613 PMCID: PMC11153822 DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1385542