Investigation of the Effect of Tai Chi Training on Depressive Symptoms in Perimenopausal Women on the Basis of Serum Kynurenine Metabolites

Objective:
To observe the effects of Tai Chi training on depression symptoms and serum kynurenine metabolites in perimenopausal women and explore the mechanism of Tai Chi training in anti-depression.

Methods:
A total of 72 perimenopausal women with depression were randomly selected from Lishi District and divided into a Tai Chi training group (36 cases) and a control group (36 cases). At the same time, 36 perimenopausal healthy women were randomly selected as the normal group. The Tai Chi training group was intervened with 24 simplified Tai Chi exercises, and the depression self-rating scale was used to evaluate the depression status. The levels of tryptophan (Trp) and kynurenine (KYN) metabolites in serum were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection.

Results:
Before the experiment, compared with the normal healthy group, the depression self-rating scale scores, serum KYN and quinolinic acid (QUIN) levels, and KYN/Trp ratio of the control group and Tai Chi group were significantly increased (p < .01), and the serum kynurenic acid (KYNA) level was significantly decreased (p < .01). After the experiment, compared with the normal healthy group, the depression self-rating scale scores of the Tai Chi group were significantly decreased (p < .01), the serum KYNA content was increased (p < .01), the serum KYN and QUIN contents were significantly decreased (p < .01), and the KYN/Trp ratio was significantly decreased (p < .01).

Conclusion:
Tai Chi training can significantly improve depression symptoms in perimenopausal women. The mechanism of Tai Chi training in improving depression symptoms in perimenopausal women may be achieved by regulating abnormal kynurenine metabolism.


PMID: 39023066 DOI: 10.1080/0361073X.2024.2377427