Open AccessEpigenomic Changes after Acupuncture Treatment in Patients Suffering from Burnout
Author(s) -
M. Petitpierre,
Ludwig Stenz,
Ariane Paoloni-Giacobino
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
complementary medicine research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.238
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 2504-2106
pISSN - 2504-2092
DOI - 10.1159/000521347
Subject(s) - emotional exhaustion , medicine , dna methylation , acupuncture , burnout , clinical psychology , biology , gene , genetics , pathology , gene expression , alternative medicine
The effects of acupuncture treatment in patients suffering from burnout may imply an epigenetic control mediated by DNA methylation changes. In this observational study, a genome-wide characterization of epigenetic changes in blood DNA, before and after acupuncture treatment, was performed in a cohort of 11 patients suffering from burnout. Methods: Burnout was assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and DNA was extracted from blood samples and analyzed by Illumina EPIC BeadChip. Results: Before acupuncture, all patients suffered of emotional exhaustion (EE) (MBI-EE score, 44 ± 6), 81% suffered of depersonalization (DP) (MBI-DP score, 16 ± 6), and 72% of low feelings of personal accomplishment (PA) (MBI-PA score, 29 ± 9). After acupuncture, all MBI dimensions improved significantly (EE, 16 ± 11 [ p = 1.5 × 10 –4 ]; DP, 4 ± 5 [ p = 5.3 × 10 –4 ]; and PA, 40 ± 6 [ p = 4.1 × 10 –3 ]). For each patient, both methylomes obtained before and after acupuncture co-clustered in the multidimensional scaling plot, indicating a high level of similarity. Genes corresponding to the 10 most differentially methylated CpGs showed enrichment in the brain dopaminergic signaling, steroid synthesis and in the insulin sensitivity pathways. Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment was found to be highly effective on all burnout dimensions and the epigenetic targets identified were involved in some major disturbances of this syndrome.