{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]],"date-time":"2026-09-02T19:21:10Z","timestamp":1788376870253,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]],"date-time":"2022-05-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1652400000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Cardiovasc. Med."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>By comparing the differences in the thermal transport effect between the heart and lung meridians induced by moxibustion, this study aimed to investigate the specificity of site-to-site associations on the body surface between different meridians.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Eighty healthy participants were divided into the heart meridian intervention group and the lung meridian intervention group; moxibustion was performed at these two meridians, respectively. Baseline temperature and its change magnitude from baseline induced by moxibustion in 6 measuring sites of the heart and lung meridians were assessed by infrared thermography (IRT). Measuring sites included: Site 1 (Chize, LU5), Site 2 (midpoint of LU9 and LU5), Site 3 (Taiyuan, LU9), Site 4 (Shaohai, HT3), Site 5 (midpoint of HT7 and HT3), and Site 6 (Shenmen, HT7).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Forty participants (20 male and 20 female, 27.90 \u00b1 0.52 years) were assigned to the heart meridian intervention group, and 40 participants (20 male and 20 female, 28.08 \u00b1 0.54 years) were assigned to the lung meridian intervention group. In the lung meridian intervention group (moxibustion over LU5), the temperature of the distal sites in the lung meridian increased significantly at 5, 10, and 15 min compared with pre-moxibustion (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.001). The temperature of Site 4 in the heart meridian, which was nearest to the moxibustion site, increased significantly compared with pre-moxibustion (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.05), while the temperature in the distal sites of the heart meridian did not differ significantly during moxibustion. Regarding the comparison of temperature change magnitude from baseline (\u0394T) between the two meridians, the \u0394T of Site 2 in the lung meridian was significantly higher than Site 4 in the heart meridian at 5 and 10 min after moxibustion (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.05), despite that Site 2 was more distal from the moxibustion site than Site 4. Similarly, the \u0394T of Site 3 in the lung meridian was significantly higher than Site 5 and Site 6 in the heart meridian at 5, 10, and 15 min after moxibustion (<jats:italic>P<\/jats:italic> &amp;lt; 0.05). In the heart meridian invervention group, similar thermal transport effect between the two meridians was observed. The thermal transport effect of the distal sites along the heart meridian was more significant than that of the site closer to the moxibustion site but located in the lung meridian. Taken together, aforementioned results indicated that the moxibustion-induced thermal transport effect between the heart and lung meridians is generally more significant in the distal sites along the corresponding meridian than that in the closer sites of the other meridian.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>In the heart and lung meridians, the moxibustion-induced thermal transport effect is closely related to meridian routes, not just related to the absolute distance from the moxibustion site, thereby confirming the relative specificity of \u201csite-to-site\u201d associations on the body surface in these two meridians.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Systematic Review Registration<\/jats:title><jats:p><jats:ext-link>https:\/\/clinicaltrials.gov\/ct2\/show\/NCT05330403<\/jats:ext-link>, identifier NCT05330403.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fcvm.2022.817901","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]],"date-time":"2022-05-13T07:33:55Z","timestamp":1652427235000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["The Moxibustion-Induced Thermal Transport Effect Between the Heart and Lung Meridians With Infrared Thermography"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"9","author":[{"given":"Xiaoyu","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yongliang","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hantong","family":"Hu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiali","family":"Lou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yajun","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaofen","family":"He","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yuanyuan","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junfan","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xiaomei","family":"Shao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jianqiao","family":"Fang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"492","DOI":"10.7326\/0003-4819-147-7-200710020-00007","article-title":"Nonpharmacologic therapies for acute and chronic low back pain: a review of the evidence for an American Pain Society\/American College of Physicians clinical practice guideline","volume":"147","author":"Chou","year":"2007","journal-title":"Ann Intern Med."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"271","DOI":"10.1001\/jamaoncol.2020.0622","article-title":"Clinical evidence for association of acupuncture and acupressure with improved cancer pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis","volume":"6","author":"Cai","year":"2019","journal-title":"JAMA Oncol."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"346","DOI":"10.1016\/j.maturitas.2011.02.001","article-title":"The use of acupuncture for managing gynaecologic conditions: An overview of systematic reviews","volume":"68","author":"Kang","year":"2011","journal-title":"Maturitas."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"508","DOI":"10.1001\/jamainternmed.2016.9378","article-title":"The long-term effect of acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis: a randomized clinical trial","volume":"177","author":"Zhao","year":"2017","journal-title":"JAMA Intern Med."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"167","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2018.8907","article-title":"Effect of acupuncture vs sham acupuncture or waitlist control on joint pain related to aromatase inhibitors among women with early-stage breast cancer","volume":"320","author":"Hershman","year":"2018","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"761","DOI":"10.7326\/M15-3118","article-title":"Acupuncture for chronic severe functional constipation: a randomized, controlled trial","volume":"165","author":"Liu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Ann Intern Med."},{"key":"B7","first-page":"855","article-title":"Infrared thermal imaging-based research on the intermediate structures of the lung and large intestine exterior-interior relationship in asthma patients","volume-title":"Chin J Integr Med","author":"Fu","year":"2016"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"419","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jcma.2016.12.007","article-title":"Characteristic patterns of normal meridian acupoint temperature","volume":"80","author":"Wei","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Chin Med Assoc."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"109","DOI":"10.13703\/j.0255-2930.2017.01.029","article-title":"Review on skin temperature of acupoints","volume":"37","author":"Yang","year":"2017","journal-title":"Zhongguo Zhen Jiu"},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1016\/S1003-5257(17)30099-5","article-title":"Laterality and coherence analysis of Laser Doppler Flowmetry signals in bilateral N\u00e8i gu\u0101n (\u5185\u5173PC 6): a potential non-invasive method to assess microdrculatory changes of people in different ages","volume":"27","author":"Wang","year":"2017","journal-title":"World J Acup Moxibust."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"435928","DOI":"10.1093\/ecam\/neq073","article-title":"Assessing the effects of acupuncture by comparing needling the hegu acupoint and needling nearby nonacupoints by spectral analysis of microcirculatory laser doppler signals","volume":"2011","author":"Hsiu","year":"2011","journal-title":"Evid Based Complement Alternat Med"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"46","DOI":"10.1089\/acm.2013.0442","article-title":"Local changes in microcirculation and the analgesic effects of acupuncture: a laser doppler perfusion imaging study","volume":"21","author":"Min","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Alternat Complement Med."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"38","DOI":"10.1186\/1475-925X-4-38","article-title":"Infrared thermography fails to visualize stimulation-induced","volume":"4","author":"Litscher","year":"2005","journal-title":"Biomed Eng Online."},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"632","DOI":"10.1097\/ALN.0b013e3181b31e24","article-title":"Contact-free infrared thermography for assessing effects during acupuncture: a randomized, single-blinded, placebo-controlled crossover clinical trial","volume":"111","author":"Agarwal-Kozlowski","year":"2009","journal-title":"Anesthesiology."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"16","DOI":"10.1016\/j.eujim.2018.04.002","article-title":"Acupuncture for improving gait disturbance in Parkinson's disease: A study protocol of pilot randomized controlled trial","volume":"20","author":"Jang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Eur J Integr Med."},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"839470","DOI":"10.1155\/2015\/839470","article-title":"The effects of acupuncture on cerebral and muscular microcirculation: a systematic review of nearinfrared spectroscopy studies","volume":"2015","author":"Clo","year":"2015","journal-title":"Evid Based Complement Alternat Med"},{"key":"B17","first-page":"3283","article-title":"Effects of infrared radiant track along meridian course(IRRTM) of Du Meridian stimulated by moxibust with different ambient temperature","volume":"30","author":"Cailian","year":"2015","journal-title":"China J Trad Chin Med Pharm."},{"key":"B18","first-page":"558","article-title":"Effects of infrared radiant track along meridian course (IRRTM) of Du Meridian stimulated by moxibustion with different ambient temperature","volume-title":"China J Tradit Chin Med Pharmacy","author":"Huimin","year":"2013"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"27","DOI":"10.1136\/acupmed-2011-010069","article-title":"Is there a difference between the effects of one-point and three-point indirect moxibustion stimulation on skin temperature changes of the posterior trunk surface?","volume":"30","author":"Mori","year":"2012","journal-title":"Acupunct Med."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1142\/S0192415X08005722","article-title":"Infrared radiation spectrum of acupuncture point on patients with coronary heart disease","volume":"36","author":"Shen","year":"2008","journal-title":"Am J Chin Med."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"9568324","DOI":"10.1155\/2019\/9568324","article-title":"Research on the characteristics of infrared radiation spectra at zigong acupoint within menstrual cycle of healthy female","volume":"2019","author":"Qin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Evid Based Complement Alternat Med"},{"key":"B22","first-page":"175","article-title":"Effect of electroacupuncture stimulation of heart and lung meridians on expression of myocardial HCN 2 in acute myocardial ischemia rats","volume":"43","author":"Wu","year":"2018","journal-title":"Acupunct Res."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1645","DOI":"10.1007\/s10103-016-2032-6","article-title":"Laser acupuncture causes thermal changes in small intestine meridian pathway","volume":"31","author":"de Souza","year":"2016","journal-title":"Lasers Med Sci."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"231","DOI":"10.1142\/S0192415X07004771","article-title":"Appearance of human meridian-like structure and acupoints and its time correlation by infrared thermal imaging","volume":"35","author":"Yang","year":"2007","journal-title":"Am J Chin Med."},{"key":"B25","first-page":"2709","article-title":"Review on characteristics of infrared radiation of meridians of traditional Chinese medicine","volume":"31","author":"Sidong","year":"2016","journal-title":"China J Tradit Chin Med Pharm."},{"key":"B26","first-page":"159","article-title":"Measurement of the temperature in deep tissues along the governor vessel","volume":"31","author":"Lingyun","year":"2006","journal-title":"Acupunct Res."},{"key":"B27","first-page":"180","article-title":"Probe into measuring acupoint and non-acupoint temperature with precision thermometer","volume":"19","author":"Fenglan","year":"1990","journal-title":"J Tongji Med Univ."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"220","DOI":"10.1016\/S0254-6272(17)30048-1","article-title":"Comparative study on skin temperature response to menstruation at acupuncture points in healthy volunteers and primary dysmenorrhea patients","volume":"37","author":"She","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Tradit Chin Med."},{"key":"B29","first-page":"1445","article-title":"Automatic assessment of facial nerve function based on infrared thermal imaging","volume":"36","author":"Xu-Long","year":"2016","journal-title":"Spectrosc Spectral Analy."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"329","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jams.2015.10.002","article-title":"Neurovascular primo bundles at the kidney meridian revealed using hemacolor staining","volume":"8","author":"Bae","year":"2015","journal-title":"J Acupunct Meridian Stud."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"506","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tjog.2012.09.004","article-title":"The meridian system and mechanism of acupuncture-a comparative review. Part 1: the meridian system","volume":"51","author":"Chang","year":"2012","journal-title":"Taiwan J Obstet Gynecol."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.1089\/acu.2016.1210","article-title":"Neuroembryology of the acupuncture principal meridians: Part 1. the extremities","volume":"29","author":"Dorsher Peter","year":"2017","journal-title":"Med Acupunct"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"134","DOI":"10.1136\/aim.17.2.134","article-title":"The substrate and properties of meridians: a review of modern research","volume":"17","author":"Wei","year":"1999","journal-title":"Acupunct Med."},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6644625","DOI":"10.1155\/2021\/6644625","article-title":"Difference in moxibustion-induced microcirculatory responses between the heart and lung meridians assessed by laser doppler flowmetry","volume":"2021","author":"Jiang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Evid Based Complement Alternat Med"},{"key":"B35","first-page":"1221","article-title":"Mechanisms and modifiers of reflex induced cutaneous vasodilation and vasoconstriction in humans","volume-title":"J Appl Physiol","author":"Charkoudian","year":"2010"},{"key":"B36","first-page":"H51","article-title":"The involvement of heating rate and vasoconstrictor nerves in the cutaneous vasodilator response to skin warming","volume-title":"Am J Physiol Heart Circul Physiol","author":"Hodges","year":"2009"},{"key":"B37","first-page":"1229","article-title":"Local thermal control of the human cutaneous circulation","volume-title":"J Appl Physiol","author":"Johnson","year":"2010"},{"key":"B38","first-page":"1185","article-title":"Entity of acupoint: kinetic changes of acupoints in histocytochemistry","volume":"35","author":"Wei","year":"2015","journal-title":"Chinese Acupunct Moxibustion."},{"key":"B39","first-page":"971","article-title":"The scientific basis of the dynamic process of acupoints","volume":"48","author":"Xiaochun","year":"2007","journal-title":"J Tradit Chin Med."},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"512","DOI":"10.1111\/srt.12680","article-title":"Evaluation of different factors influencing objective measurement of skin color by colorimetry","volume":"25","author":"Anbar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Skin Res Technol."},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"15","DOI":"10.1016\/S0196-0644(95)70349-7","article-title":"Determination of normal ear temperature with an infrared emission detection thermometer","volume":"25","author":"Chamberlain","year":"1995","journal-title":"Ann Emerg Med."},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1007\/s00421-009-1158-7","article-title":"Gender differences in thermal comfort and mental performance at different vertical air temperatures","volume":"109","author":"Hashiguchi","year":"2009","journal-title":"Eur J Appl Physiol."},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"565","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1469-7793.2001.0565k.x","article-title":"Sleep and 24 hour body temperatures: a comparison in young men, naturally cycling women and women taking hormonal contraceptives","volume":"530","author":"Baker","year":"2001","journal-title":"J Physiol."},{"key":"B44","article-title":"Standard procedures for infrared imaging in medicine,","volume-title":"The Biomedical Handbook, Medical Devices and Systems.","author":"Ammer","year":"2006"},{"key":"B45","first-page":"99","article-title":"Influence of the field of view on temperature readings from thermal images","volume":"15","author":"Ammer","year":"2005","journal-title":"Thermol Int."},{"key":"B46","first-page":"35","article-title":"Comparison of measuring sites for the assessment of body temperature","volume":"19","author":"Pascoe","year":"2009","journal-title":"Thermol Int."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcvm.2022.817901\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]],"date-time":"2022-05-13T07:34:19Z","timestamp":1652427259000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fcvm.2022.817901\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]]},"references-count":46,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fcvm.2022.817901"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fcvm.2022.817901","relation":{},"ISSN":["2297-055X"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2297-055X","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,13]]},"article-number":"817901"}}