Effect of a Japanese Energy Healing Method Known as Johrei on Viability and Proliferation of Cultured Cancer Cells In Vitro

Objectives: The objective was to explore the effect of a Japanese energy healing method known as Johrei on the viability and proliferation of cultured human cancer cells in vitro. Design: A randomly selected 96-well plate or a culture dish of various types of human cancer cell lines in culture were exposed to Johrei treatment. For comparison purpose, an equal number of untreated or volunteer-treated cultures were chosen as the control group. Johrei treatment was repeatedly performed at appropriate time intervals over the course of the experiments. Cell viability was examined by a colorimetric assay with a Cell Counting kit. Morphological changes were analyzed by phase-contrast and time-lapse microscopy. Cell proliferation and early and late stages of cell death were also determined with the use of a bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) cell proliferation assay kit and an Annexin V-FLUOS Staining kit, respectively. Outcome measures: Quantitative data were presented as means +/- standard deviation. The outcome measures were the differences in viable cell numbers that remained under healing practice versus control conditions, and the statistical significance of differences in their mean values was assessed. Results: The viability loss of cultured human cancer cells in the Johrei group was significantly higher than that of either of the control groups, despite the fact that the responsiveness to Johrei varied with different cancer cell types. The proliferation rate of gastric cancer cells exposed to Johrei treatments for 72 hours was more significantly decreased compared with that of the untreated cells, whereas the extent of dying and/or dead cells in the Johrei group was more profound than that of the untreated cells. Conclusions: These results provide evidence that Johrei treatment induces the viability loss of various cancer cells in vitro, mainly due to the increased cell death and the decreased proliferation.