The diseases and pathological manifestations associated with chongmai (thoroughfare vessel) are the representative in the practical applications of chongmai theory. Elucidating this theory serves as a prerequisite of acupuncture and moxibustion therapy. Based on literature analysis, the diseases and clinical manifestations of chongmai recorded in the time of Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) were analyzed so as to reinterpret the diagnostic process, pathological characteristics, and clinical manifestations of disorders, and evaluate the value of chongmai theory. Chongmai diseases were identified from the palpation initially, known as the "palpation on abdominal pulse". The "qi reversion" of chongmai represents a typical clinical manifestation of chongmai diseases, such as ji (abdominal mass), jia (abdominal hematoma), and shan (hernia), occurring in different sites of the abdomen and in different pathological stages. A part of distribution of chongmai is considered in clinical manifestation, diagnosis and treatment of acupuncture and moxibustion. To emphasize the significance of chongmai in modern acupuncture-moxibustion theory and practice, the diagnostic and therapeutic patterns of the related disorders should be considered in clinical practice. The characteristics of chongmai are reflected in three aspects: qi, blood and abdomen, which are determined by both its inherent properties and the clinical manifestations of related diseases.
Humans ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Moxibustion ; History, Ancient ; Meridians ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

There is an imbalance between the supply and demand of functional red blood cells (RBCs) in clinical appli-cations. This imbalance can be addressed by regenerating RBCs using several in vitro methods. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can handle the low supply of cord blood and the ethical issues in embryonic stem cell research, and provide a promising strategy to eliminate immune rejection. However, no complete single-cell level differentiation pathway exists for the iPSC-derived erythroid differentiation system. In this study, we used iPSC line BC1 to establish a RBC regeneration system. The 10X Genomics single-cell transcriptome platform was used to map the cell lineage and differentiation trajectory on day 14 of the regeneration system. We observed that iPSC differentiation was not synchronized during embryoid body (EB) culture. The cells (on day 14) mainly consisted of mesodermal and various blood cells, similar to the yolk sac hematopoiesis. We identified six cell classifications and characterized the regulatory transcription factor (TF) networks and cell–cell contacts underlying the system. iPSCs undergo two transformations during the differentiation trajectory, accompanied by the dynamic expression of cell adhesion molecules and estrogen-responsive genes. We iden-tified erythroid cells at different stages, such as burst-forming unit erythroid (BFU-E) and orthochromatic erythroblast (ortho-E) cells, and found that the regulation of TFs (e.g., TFDP1 and FOXO3) is erythroid-stage specific. Immune erythroid cells were identified in our system. This study provides systematic theoretical guidance for optimizing the iPSC-derived erythroid differentiation system, and this system is a useful model for simulating in vivo hematopoietic develo-pment and differentiation.