Effect of Yoga on inflammatory markers and its impact on cardiovascular health and rehabilitation: A systematic review.

One of the main mechanisms in cardiovascular disease (CVD) development is inflammation. Increased risk of CVD has been linked to elevated levels of inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). According to recent estimates, CVD, which includes ischemic heart disease and stroke, accounted for 19.8 million fatalities globally, or around 32% of all deaths, with an age-standardized death rate of 235 per 100,000. Over 523 million individuals worldwide are affected by prevalence, which is fuelled by risk factors like diabetes and hypertension as well as aging populations. According to the Global Burden of Disease report, low- and middle-income areas continue to have significant burdens. In the management of CVD, yoga, a mind-body intervention, has been proven to have anti-inflammatory effects. This review intends to investigate the association between heart health and inflammatory indicators, as well as the function of yoga in treating CVD. Atherosclerosis development and cardiovascular disease (CVD) events are driven by chronic inflammation, and severe unfavourable cardiac outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are independently predicted by higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α). Even though there are more than 200 million cases of CAD worldwide, traditional cardiac rehabilitation results in poor adherence and a chronic inflammatory burden following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). This highlights the need for supplemental, non-pharmacological therapies like yoga that alter autonomic regulation and cytokine networks and its role in rehabilitation. This systematic review synthesizes unique evidence on yoga's effects on inflammatory markers and their mechanistic links to cardiovascular health improvements in adults with or at risk for CVD. Comprehensive searches across PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase (2000-2026) employed MeSH terms and keywords including ("yoga" OR "hatha yoga" OR pranayama OR "yoga therapy") AND ("inflammatory markers" OR CRP OR "hs-CRP" OR IL-6 OR TNF-α OR cytokine∗) AND ("cardiovascular diseases" OR CAD OR "myocardial infarction" OR "endothelial function" OR "cardiac rehabilitation"), restricted to randomised controlled trials (RCTs), humans, and English-language publications. PRISMA guidelines directed study selection, data extraction (mean differences, standardized mean differences for biomarkers like CRP, IL-6, TNF-α, adiponectin), and risk-of-bias assessment via Cochrane RoB 2 tool. Yoga interventions consistently and reproducibly attenuate systemic inflammation in CVD populations, offering mechanistic support for enhanced cardiovascular risk reduction beyond standard care. These findings advocate standardized yoga protocols relevant for secondary prevention guidelines, warranting large-scale trials to establish dose-response relationships and long-term clinical outcomes.