Study on Breathing and Exercise for Health and Stress
This study is exploring whether a 2-week program of either high-intensity interval training (HIIT) or special breathing exercises can improve overall health, reduce stress, and boost your immune system. Researchers will compare these two approaches to see if they have similar benefits. They will measure things like heart rate variability, physical activity, sleep quality, and levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. They will also look at specific markers in your blood related to stress (C-reactive protein and Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) and immune function (Natural Killer cell quantity). You may be able to join if you are between 18 and 50 years old and meet other health criteria. The study aims to enroll 36 participants.
- Study design
- This is an interventional study with a planned enrollment of 36 participants. It compares two different behavioral interventions: high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and cyclic hyperventilation with retention.
- What's involved
- You would complete either 6 supervised HIIT sessions or 10 remote guided breathing sessions over 2 weeks. You will also have blood draws at the beginning (Week 1) and end (Week 4) of the study.
- Compensation
- Not stated in the trial record.
- Follow-up
- Your blood markers will be measured at Week 1 and Week 4, indicating a follow-up period of at least 3 weeks after the interventions begin.
AI-generated from the public study record. Only the study team can confirm whether you're eligible — confirm details with them before making decisions.
Can You Breathe Your Way To Better Health?
At a glance
Conditions
NCT06829836
Where you'd take part
This study runs at 1 site. They're the same protocol — you choose where, and that choice sets who your contact draft is addressed to.
University of Northern Colorado, 1610 Gunter Hall, 1828 10th Ave, Greeley, CO 80631
Greeley, Coloradono site contact published
Sites open and close at different times, so the status above is per site — it can differ from the study's overall status.
Who to contact
This trial hasn't published a contact. View it on ClinicalTrials.gov
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Inclusion
Exclusion
What this trial measures
- Serum Analysis: C-reactive protein (CRP)Visit 1(Week 1) and Visit 3 (Week 4): 15 minutes for blood draw. The assay itself takes 3 hours.
Approximately 60 mL of whole blood will be collected into serum separator tubes (Beckton Dickinson, East Rutherford, NJ, USA), allowed to clot for 30-min at room temperature, and then centrifuged at 2000 RPM for 15 min. The serum will be pipetted into 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tubes (Eppendorf AG, Hamburg, Germany) and immediately stored in a -80 °C freezer. Serum concentrations of CRP will be determined with a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ALPCO Diagnostics, Salem, NH, USA). Microplates will be read with an ELx800 BioTek microplate reader (BioTek Instruments, Inc., Winooski, VT, USA) at the recommended wavelength of 450 nanometers.
- Serum Analysis: Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF)Visit 1A (Week 1) and Visit 2A (Week 4): 15 minutes for blood draw. The assay itself takes 3 hours.
Approximately 40 mL of whole blood will be collected into serum separator tubes (Beckton Dickinson, East Rutherford, NJ, USA), allowed to clot for 30 minutes at room temperature, and then centrifuged at 2000 RPM for 15 min. The serum will be pipetted into 1.5 mL microcentrifuge tubes (Eppendorf AG, Hamburg, Germany) and immediately stored in a -80 °C freezer. Serum concentrations of BDNF (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO, USA) will be determined with commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Microplates will be read with an ELx800 BioTek microplate reader (BioTek Instruments, Inc., Winooski, VT, USA) at the recommended wavelength of 450 nanometers.
- Natural Killer cell quantityVisit 1(Week 1) and Visit 3 (Week 4): 15 minutes for blood draw. The assay itself takes ~10-12 hours.
15mL of whole blood will be obtained using sodium heparin tubes and a peripheral venous puncture. Blood samples will be mixed with Dulbecco's phosphate buffer solution (DPBS) at a 1:1 ratio and layered over 20 mL of Ficoll gradient matrix. Blood samples will be centrifugation at 111 x g for 40 minutes, acceleration 7, brake 0 (Eppendorf 5810R centrifuge, Hamburg, Germany). Samples will be washed 3 times, then resuspended at 1.0 \* 10\^6 cells/mL and incubated for 4 hours at 37 degrees Celsius, with 5% CO2. Next, samples will be pelleted, resuspended, and antibody-receiving samples will each receive 500uL DPBS and 1uL of Fragment crystabillize blocker (FcB)/1.0\*10\^6 cells and incubate on ice for 20 minutes. Samples will be pelleted, resuspended in 500uL DPBS and receive 500uL of DPBS and 2uL of CD56 (NCAM) monoclonal antibodies, incubate on ice for 20 minutes, pelleted, and resuspended in 1mL of DPBS, then analyzed using an Attune NXT flow cytometer (Thermo Fischer, Waltham, MA).
- Natural Killer Cell CytotoxicityVisit 1(Week 1) and Visit 3 (Week 4): 15 minutes for blood draw. The assay itself takes ~10-12 hours.
Chronic human myelogenous leukemia cells (K562; ATCC, Manassas, VA) are used to evaluate NKC effector function. K562 cells are stained with Alexa-Fluor 647-conjugated anti-CD71. K562 cells are further stained with Calcein-AM viability dye (Thermo Fisher Scientific, Waltham, MA), then incubated on ice for 20 min. K562 cells are washed and resuspended at 1.0 × 106 cells/mL in complete RPMI 1640 medium. Human PBMCs containing effector NK and NKT cells are co-cultured with K562 cells in 5 mL Eppendorf tubes at a 40:1 PBMC: K562 effector: target (E: T) ratio and incubated for 4 h at 37 °C in a cell incubator. Following co-incubation, samples are centrifuged at 400 x g for 5 min and resuspended in ice-cold DPBS for analysis. After the 4-hour co-culture, these samples are analyzed via flow cytometry to determine the total proportion of alive (Calcein-AM+/CD71+) versus estimated K562 cells. Changes in proportion and MFI of these populations were further analyzed using Floreada.io.
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV)Visit 2 (week 1) and Vist 4 (week 4)
Heart rate variability (HRV) will be analyzed to determine the fluctuation in the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats to assess autonomic regulation of the heart. Resting HR and HRV were measured using the electrocardiograph (GE CASE Exercise Testing System Version 6.0, Chicago, Illinois). To measure HRV, the standard deviation of normal to normal beats (SDNN) was used with the 10-second electrocardiogram reading. Based on the outcome of this assessment, participants with SDNN values below 50 ms will be classified as unhealthy, 50-100 ms will be classified as having compromised health, and above 100 ms will be classified as healthy.