To Investigate the Metabolomics in the Subjects With Long Term Tai Chi Chuan Practice

To Investigate the Metabolomics in the Subjects With Long Term Tai Chi Chuan Practice

The new biomedical technology including genomics and metabolomics will be applied to the subjects with TCC practice to investigate clinical symptoms and signs expression. The investigators will compare the related molecular pathways especially focusing on immune and inflammation between long term practice and beginner groups.

Tai Chi has been developed and spread in the eastern Asia, even the whole world for a long time. It is an exercise to coordinate mind, breathing and body movements slowly and continuously. Tai Chi is regarded as a good and useful sport to strengthen the body. In recent ten years, more and more evidence demonstrated the benefits of Tai Chi especially by meta-analysis studies. These studies revealed that Tai Chi can lower blood pressure, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, HbA1c, total cholesterol, triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, as well as preventing bone mineral density (BMD) loss in special populations. Tai Chi also helps the patients with Parkinson's disease reduce falls due to improving balance and functional mobility, and improve the symptoms of depression and anxiety. Recently, people are currently facing how to reduce the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, promote physical and mental health and strengthen muscles and bones, and so on. Regarding the role of Tai Chi in immunity, Tai Chi is helpful to improve immune function, however, the results are still inconsistent that it needs to be elucidated.

Metabolomics technology is widely used in the fields of medicine and life sciences. Through mass spectrometry analysis, quantitative and qualitative changes in biomarkers can be used to identify biochemical metabolic pathways or effects that might be involved. The number of studies on metabolomics applications has grown rapidly over the past decade, however, little has been done to examine the physiological effects of Tai Chi practice. In addition, with the advancement of science and technology, the sensitivity and measurement method of the mass spectrometer have been improved, which is more suitable for understanding the physiological changes by Tai Chi exercises. After all, the exact cellular molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown after the practice of Tai Chi.

In order to understand the health care of Tai Chi, the investigators designed this clinical control study to observe its clinical benefits from both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine. The investigators mainly compared long-term Tai Chi practitioners with beginner by TCM diagnosis and physical analysis to identify the differences and changes in TCM syndromes. At the same time, modern medical-related molecular biotechnology is used to detect changes in immunity and metabolomics analysis. Based on the views from macro to micro, it may provide important clues for clinical trials of related diseases with application of Tai Chi exercise in the future.

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Adult men and women aged over 20 and under 65.
2. Participants agreed to join the trial by fully understanding the purpose of the study and the entire trial process and then signed an informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Age of subjects was under 20 or more than 65 years old.
2. Subjects were using immunosuppressive or chemotherapy drugs.
3. With a history of drug abuse.
4. Pregnant or breastfeeding women.
5. Mental or behavioral abnormalities such as schizophrenia, depression, suicidal ideation, etc.
6. Suffering from serious diseases such as myocardial infarction, heart failure, arrhythmia, chronic respiratory obstructive diseases, cancers, gastrointestinal bleeding (OB positive), etc.
7. Subjects with abnormal blood count, abnormal liver function (>2 times the normal value), and abnormal renal function.
8. Subjects were still participating in other clinical trials.
9. Subjects were not willing sign the informed consent.