Serum protein profile of yang-deficiency constitution in traditional Chinese medicine revealed by protein microarray analyses

Abstract

Background: Based on the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and pre-epidemiological investigation, Professor Qi Wang classified the entire human population into nine constitutions and put forward the theory of “Nine-Constitution Medicine.” Among these constitutions, the main feature of the yang-deficiency constitution (YADC) is intolerance of the cold, which has been proven to reduce quality of life and confer susceptibility to specific diseases. Previous studies explored the genetic and transcriptional bases of YADC. In this experiment, we explored the potential mechanism of YADC using protein microarray, to deepen our understanding of its biological mechanism. Methods: Subjects identified with a YADC (n = 12) or a balance constitution (BC; n = 12) in accordance with the Classification and Determination Standards of Constitutions in Traditional Chinese Medicine were selected. Blood was collected to separate serum and protein microarray technology was used to analyze serum protein expression. Results: The clustering of subjects’ constitutions based on protein expression profiling largely coincided with the TCM classification. Based on false discovery rate correction (P < .01) and fold change ≥ 5 or ≤ 0.2, a total of 85 proteins differentially expressed in YADC compared with their status in BC were selected, including 64 upregulated and 21 downregulated ones. Enrichment analysis suggested that subjects with YADC are susceptible to endocrine and energy metabolism disorders, as well as decline in immune function. Conclusion: This study revealed that YADC exhibits systematic differences in its protein expression profile. Moreover, we can potentially explain the characteristics of YADC partly via differentially expressed proteins. Keywords: Yang-deficiency constitution, Protein microarray, PI3K-Akt, Endocrine, Energy metabolism