Author: Fan Y, Tang YY, Ma Y, Posner MI.
Affiliation: Institute of Neuroinformatics and Lab for Body and Mind, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, China .
Conference/Journal: J Altern Complement Med.
Date published: 2010 Jan 27
Other:
Word Count: 206
Objective: Prior research had shown that an
additional training session immediately after acute stress increased release of
salivary secretory immunoglobin A (sIgA) in a group trained with 5-day
Integrative Body-Mind Training (IBMT) in comparison to a control group given
the same amount of relaxation training. However, 5 days of training did not
influence the basal secretion of sIgA. The current study seeks to extend this
finding and determine whether increasing amounts of IBMT will increase the
basal sIgA level, suggesting further improvements in mucosal immune function.
Design: Thirty-five (35) Chinese undergraduates were randomly assigned either
to an experimental group receiving 4 weeks of IBMT or a relaxation control.
Salivary sIgA levels at baseline before training and three stages (i.e., rest,
stress, and additional 20-minute practice) after 2 and 4 weeks training were
assessed. Results: The basal sIgA levels increased significantly in the
experimental subjects but not in controls after 4 weeks of training. An
additional IBMT practice session immediately after acute stress produced
significantly higher sIgA release for the IBMT-trained group in comparison with
controls at week 2 and 4. This effect was larger at week 4 than week 2.
Conclusions: These results indicate that the IBMT produces a change in the
basal immune system and larger acute effects as the dose of training increases.