Effectiveness of Yoga in reducing IL-6 serum level in elderly with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive degenerative disease. Yoga exercise is one of the non-pharmacological treatments for knee OA. It can improve joint function through a mind-body connection mechanism. It is also non-invasive and relatively safe to do at all ages, including the elderly. Interleukin-6 is one of the circulating inflammation biomarkers in knee OA. This study showed yoga's effectiveness objectively by measuring inflammatory biomarkers' changes, namely interleukin-6 (IL-6) in knee OA cases. Methods: This research was a randomized control trial. The study was conducted in 8 weeks when the blood sampling and serum IL-6 level quantifications were taken. Results: There was a significant difference (p <0.005) and large Effect Size (ES > 0,8) in serum IL-6 levels before and after treatment between yoga and the control group. Conclusion: Therefore, we conclude that yoga is a lifestyle modification intervention that improves the clinical condition of knee OA by altering the inflammatory control pathways activity. We highly recommend that future studies use a larger sample size and analyze more specific biomarkers describing joint degradation in knee OA cases.