Familial characteristics of kidney-yang deficiency and cold syndrome

Family investigation is a reliable model to study the effects of both genetic and environmentalfactors on human health. This article studies kidney-yang deficiency syndrome and cold syndromethrough family investigation and cDNA microarray technology, exploring the effects ofboth genetic and environmental factors on the health of family members. Particularly, thesetwo syndromes were first assessed by the accumulated clinical scores measured by 40-itemscoring tables among 15 family members. The family patterns were obtained and the correlationof these two syndromes was determined. Then the gene differential expression profilesamong 12 family members were obtained using an 18,816 clones cDNA microarray. The profilesof the patients with typical kidney-yang deficiency syndrome and cold syndrome werecompared to those of normal members and 89 differential expression genes were found. Further,only 22 genes were identified as known functions, and most (16 genes) were associatedwith the regulation of metabolism, temperature feeling, and growth. Therefore, the formationand development of these two syndromes have not only genetic but also environmental factors,including living conditions and lifestyle.