Preksha Dhyana meditation modulates the serum metabolome in healthy and meditation-naïve participants.
Bassam Abomoelak, Nidhi Kapoor, Mary Schreck, Samani U Pragya, Samani C Pragya, Neelam Mehta, José Carlos Bozelli, Meera Shanmuganathan, Zachary Kroezen, Philip Britz-mckibbin, Parvin Uddin, Pushya Veeramachaneni, Naina Mehta, Ray Prather, Arpit Mehta, Devendra Mehta
Frontiers in molecular biosciences January 1, 2026 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2026.1741802 via PubMed
Summary
Preksha Dhyana meditation led to increased serum levels of metabolites such as hypoxanthine, oxoproline, choline, and cystine, along with various lysophosphatidylcholine and lysophosphatidylethanolamine species after an 8-week intervention in 38 healthy participants. These changes are linked to important cellular pathways like purine degradation and glycerophospholipid metabolism, suggesting that meditation may influence health through bioactive compounds that could modify gene expression.
Study at a glance
| Design | cross-sectional study |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 43 |
| Population | healthy, meditation-naïve participants and age-matched controls |
| Key finding | Serum metabolite and lipid levels significantly increased following an 8-week Preksha Dhyana meditation intervention. |
Abstract
The impact of various meditation interventions on modifying human health outcomes has been demonstrated at both cognitive and cellular levels. Preksha Dhyana (PD) meditation has previously shown effects on cognitive skills, transcriptome, and the DNA methylome in healthy, novice college students. In this study, we performed a cross-platform metabolomic and lipidomic analysis of serum samples collected from 38 healthy, meditation-naïve participants and five age-matched participants who served as controls. Serum samples were collected from both groups, at baseline (pre-meditation) and after an 8-week PD intervention. Analysis was conducted using capillary electrophoresis and reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry, and higher serum concentration levels for four circulating metabolites, namely, hypoxanthine, oxoproline, choline, and cystine, were identified along with a series of lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) and lysophosphatidylethanolamine (LPE) species (LPC 20:0, LPC 18:0, LPC 18:1, LPC 16:0, LPE 18:0, LPE 18:1, and LPE 22:6), following the PD intervention that satisfied a Bonferroni correction (p < 0.05, FDR). Pathway enrichment analysis revealed that these metabolites and lipids are primarily associated with the purine degradation cycle, glycerophospholipid metabolism, and glutathione metabolism, which are critical for maintaining cellular energy balance, preserving membrane integrity, and protecting against oxidative stress. A multi-omics analysis with Data Integration Analysis for Biomarker discovery using Latent approaches for Omics studies (DIABLO) revealed positive and negative correlations between these metabolites/lipids, DNA methylated sites (DMSs), and cognitive outcomes (r > 0.5). Overall, our findings suggest that the wellbeing experienced after PD meditation might be associated with bioactive metabolites and lipids, which may also function as epigenetic modifiers regulating gene expression and biological pathways. ClinicalTrials.gov, Identifier NCT03779269.