Evidence map›Paper›PMID 35576643›Full record

ArticleEBioMedicine2022

The heart-brain axis: A proteomics study of meditation on the cardiovascular system of Tibetan Monks.

Ting Xue, Benjamin Chiao, Tianjiao Xu, Han Li, Kai Shi, Ying Cheng, Yuan Shi, Xiaoli Guo, Shanbao Tong, Menglin Guo and 3 more

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in EBioMedicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06615531 (Effects of Meditation on Human Well Being), which is not on this map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
1.7field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06615531 completednot on this map

Effects of Meditation on Human Well Being

TypeobservationalSponsorTobias Moeller-BertramRan2022 to 2023Enrolled21ConditionsIntensive Meditation in Novice and Experienced MeditatorsArmsAdvanced multi-component meditation practice
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Observational
  2. Total-bodyEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2025
    Article
  3. What Do We Know About Prevention of Frailty in Women?American journal of lifestyle medicine · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Ting XueShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201108, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai 201108, China.
Benjamin ChiaoChina Center for Behavioral Economics and Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Sichuan 610074, China; Paris School of Technology and Business, Paris 75011, France.
Tianjiao XuNursing Department, Shanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201108, China.
Han LiShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201108, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai 201108, China.
Kai ShiShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201108, China.
Ying ChengShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201108, China.
Yuan ShiShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201108, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai 201108, China.
Xiaoli GuoSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Shanbao TongSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Menglin GuoSchool of Biomedical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Soo Hong ChewChina Center for Behavioral Economics and Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Sichuan 610074, China; Department of Economics, National University of Singapore, 117570, Singapore. Electronic address: chew.soohong@gmail.com.
Richard P EbsteinChina Center for Behavioral Economics and Finance, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Sichuan 610074, China. Electronic address: rpebstein@gmail.com.
Donghong CuiShanghai Mental Health Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai 201108, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Psychotic Disorders, Shanghai 201108, China; Brain Science and Technology Research Center, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 201108, China. Electronic address: manyucc@126.com.
Shanghai Jiao Tong University · CNShanghai Mental Health Center · CNSouthwestern University of Finance and Economics · CN

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThere have been mixed reports on the beneficial effects of meditation in cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is widely considered the leading cause of death worldwide.

methodsTo clarify the role of meditation in modulating the heart-brain axis, we implemented an extreme phenotype strategy, i.e., Tibetan monks (BMI > 30) who practised 19.20 ± 7.82 years of meditation on average and their strictly matched non-meditative Tibetan controls. Hypothesis-free advanced proteomics strategies (Data Independent Acquisition and Targeted Parallel Reaction Monitoring) were jointly applied to systematically investigate and target the plasma proteome underlying meditation. Total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol  (LDL-C), apolipoprotein B (Apo B) and lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] as the potential cardiovascular risk factors were evaluated. Heart rate variability (HRV) was assessed by electrocardiogram.

findingsObesity, hypertension, and reduced HRV is offset by long-term meditation. Notably, meditative monks have blood pressure and HRV comparable to their matched Tibetan controls. Meditative monks have a protective plasma proteome, related to decreased atherosclerosis, enhanced glycolysis, and oxygen release, that confers resilience to the development of CVD. In addition, clinical risk factors in plasma were significantly decreased in monks compared with controls, including total cholesterol, LDL-C, Apo B, and Lp(a).

interpretationTo our knowledge, this work is the first well-controlled proteomics investigation of long-term meditation, which opens up a window for individuals characterized by a sedentary lifestyle to improve their cardiovascular health with an accessible method practised for more than two millennia.

fundingSee the Acknowledgements section.

Indexed as

Cardiovascular DiseasesCardiovascular SystemMeditationMonksApolipoproteins BBrainCholesterol, LDLHumansProteomeProteomicsTibetApolipoproteins BCholesterol, LDLProteomeAdvanced multiple proteomicsCardiovascular healthHeart-brain axisTibetan long-term meditation

Identifiers

PMID35576643
PMCPMC9118669
OpenAlexW4280615988

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.