Analysis of the mechanism of propagated sensation along meridians based on gene expression profiles

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Propagated sensation along meridians (PSM) is an important basis for the formation of the meridian theory, but its mechanism is still unclear. The study explored the mechanism of PSM from the perspective of gene expression. PROCEDURES: PSM induced by moxibustion was determined and classified according to the Modern Study of Meridians of Chinese Medicine. Seven subjects with obvious PSM (obvious PSM group) and five subjects with unobvious PSM (unobvious PSM group) were selected from 33 healthy volunteers according to the scores in their infrared radiant track along meridians (IRRTM) and the degree of subjective transduction. Agilent Human 4 × 44 K Gene Expression Microarrays V2 were used to detect the whole genome expression profile of subjects in the two groups. KEGG and GO were applied to analyze differentially expressed genes. RESULTS: Compared with the unobvious PSM group, 120 genes were differentially expressed in the obvious PSM group, including 76 up-regulated and 44 down-regulated genes. The differentially expressed genes were enriched in dopaminergic synapse, 5-hydroxychrominable synapse, glutamatergic synapse, calcium release channel, gap junction, and adherens junction pathways. CONCLUSIONS: The study provides a comprehensive set of gene expression data of subjects with obvious PSM, which indicates that the molecular basis of PSM may be closely related to neurotransmitters, calcium ions and cell junction pathways. This study combines the holistic concept of traditional Chinese medicine with modern molecular biology technology to explore the molecular mechanism of PSM from the perspective of genomics, which may shed new insights into the molecular mechanism of PSM.