[Considerations about study on mechanisms of thermal efficacies of moxibustion from activities of transient receptor potential family].

Of the mammalian transient receptor potential (TRP) superfamily members, transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV 1), TRPV 2,TRPV 3,TRPV 4,melastatin transient receptor potential (TRPM) 4, TRPM 5, and TRP ankyrin 1 (TRPA 1), are mostly permeable to both monovalent and divalent cation channels and are able to sense to changes of the temperature. Cutaneous TRPV 1, TRPV 2, TRPV 3, TRPV 4, TRPM 4 and TRPM 5 are sensitive to warm stimulation. Moxibustion, a type of physical thermal stimulus, can bring forth some curative effects after applying to certain acupoints for a period of time. Therefore, it is possible to reveal the underlying mechanisms of moxibustion in improving some related clinical disorders through studying activities of transient receptor potential family members. In the present paper, the authors summarize various characteristics of the activated TRP family members in the cutaneous tissue. Moreover, the authors also put forward some researching ideas about the local triggering mechanism of moxibustion stimulation and the resultant cascading effects by combining with its characters of local special responses in experimental studies.