The regulation of HPA activity and anti-aging effect of Qigong exercise for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: telomerase activity and salivary cortisol

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Our previous RCT showed that Qigong exercise has effects of reducing fatigue level, improving quality of life, and also anti-aging effect on CFS patients. Objectives In this RCT, the effects of Qigong exercise on fatigue as well as the relationships between fatigue and two biomarkers - telomerase activity and salivary cortisol level which designated theHPA axis activity were investigated. METHODS: A RCT was conducted. 16 sessions of Qigong was delivered. The primary outcome was change of Chalder’s fatigue scale. The telomerase activity in blood sample and salivary cortisol level at 5 time points in same day: awakening, 45 min after awakening, 12 pm, 5 pm and 9 pm ere collected. The mean of natural log of cortisol level (MNLSCL) and area under curve (AUC) for 5 time points were calculated. The primary outcome and differences of biomarkers (T1-T0) between Qigong and control groups were compared using T-test. The correlations between fatigue level and biomarkers were also assessed. RESULTS: The changes of Chalder’s fatigue (T1-T0) were −11.8 (11.4) and −4.1(6.5) for Qigong and control groups respectively (p<.001). The changes of MNLSCL were −0.405 (0.987) and −0.018 (0.595) (p=0.004), as well as −203.48 (444.03) and −13.49 (96.91) (p=.001) respectively in the changes of AUC (T1-T0). The differences of telomerase activity were 0.038 (0.203) and −0.105 (0.165) for Qigong and control groups respectively (p<.001). The correlations between change of fatigue with that of MNLSCL was 0.294 (p<.001), and with that of AUC was 0.387 (p<.001). CONCLUSION: Qigong may reduce fatigue level and HPA axis activity and increase telomerase activity. Improvement in fatigue may possibly relate to the changes in HPA activity while the mechanism of changes in telomerase activity needs further investigation.