Classic and Modern Meridian Studies: A Review of Low Hydraulic Resistance Channels along Meridians and Their Relevance for Therapeutic Effects in Traditional Chinese Medicine

Wei-Bo Zhang, Guang-Jun Wang, Kjell Fuxe, Wei-Bo Zhang, Guang-Jun Wang, Kjell Fuxe

Abstract

Meridian theory is one of the core components of the theory of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). It gives an integral explanation for how human life works, how a disease forms, and how a therapy acts to treat a disease. If we do not understand the meridians, it is hard to understand the TCM. People in China and abroad had been working hard for 50 years, trying to understand the meridians; then 15 years ago a breakthrough idea appeared when we realized that they are low resistance fluid channels where various chemical and physical transports take place. The channel is called low hydraulic resistance channel (LHRC) and the chemical transport is named volume transmission (VT). This review aims to give a full understanding of the essence of meridian and its works on the therapies of TCM.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The illustration of meridian system. Joint is the position of acupoint which is also the entrance of Qi-Blood in or out of the channels. Floating collateral is one of subcollaterals toward skin surface. There are different kinds of collaterals, 15/large collaterals, branching collateral, and parallel collateral divergent from main meridians [5].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Hydromechanical model of meridian and the experimental verifications. (a) Higher permeable (kx) tissue (low HR) along meridian (↑) and flow pattern of IF of the meridian. (b) The measuring system of HR with two pressure transducers. (c) The HR curve and low HR points (LHR) on stomach meridian in a minipig. (d) The sites of isotope injection (middle green point in left figure and black cross in right figure) and the migration of the isotope along LHRC of stomach meridian (marked by two green points in left figure and white arrow in right figure) [20].
Figure 3
Figure 3
The functions of LHRC along meridians. (a) A higher thermal line along stomach meridian was shown (↑) by thermal infrared imager after injecting hot water into Zusanli (+). (b) A zone of high blood perfusion appeared 30 min after injecting histamine into LHRC. (c) The migration of  18F-FDG along lung meridian and heart meridian (upper four figures) and along bladder meridian (low four figures). ↑ indicates a branch of  8F-FDG along bladder meridian separated centripetally at the middle of thigh. The figures on the right show the postures of the subjects. The red points are the injecting points. The rightmost line chart shows the branch of bladder meridian on thigh.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Pathological changes of gastrointestinal system after blocking the stomach meridian in a pig. (a) Before opening the abdomen which has been enlarged. (b) After opening the abdomen, distension of stomach and intestine could be found.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The mechanism of PSM involves axon reflex relay, volume transmission, and LHRC in peripheral tissue along meridians [56, 57].
Figure 6
Figure 6
A sketch map to illustrate the mechanisms for therapies in TCM. The meaning of (∗) could be found in Section 7.2.
Figure 7
Figure 7
(a) General four kinds of interstitial flow on human body. (b) Interstitial flow on balancing fluid through low resistance channel between lymph terminals.

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