title: Effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy on gene expression: preliminary study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Changes in gene expression after traditional Japanese massage therapy were investigated to clarify the mechanisms of the clinical effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a pilot experimental study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted in a laboratory at Tsukuba University of Technology.
  
  
  METHODS
  The subjects were 2 healthy female volunteers (58-year-old Participant A, 55-year-old Participant B).
  
  
  METHODS
  The intervention consisted of a 40-minute full-body massage using standard traditional Japanese massage techniques through the clothing and a 40-minute rest as a control, in which participants lie on the massage table without being massaged.
  
  
  METHODS
  Before and after an intervention, blood was taken and analyzed by microarray: (1) The number of genes whose expression was more than double after the intervention than before was examined; (2) For those genes, gene ontology analysis identified statistically significant gene ontology terms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The gene expression count in the total of 41,000 genes was 1256 genes for Participant A and 1778 for Participant B after traditional Japanese massage, and was 157 and 82 after the control, respectively. The significant gene ontology terms selected by both Participants A and B after massage were "immune response" and "immune system," whereas no gene ontology terms were selected by them in the control.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is implied that traditional Japanese massage therapy may affect the immune function. Further studies with more samples are necessary.
authors: Course of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Department of Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Tsukuba University of Technology, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. donoyama@k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp
authors: Nozomi
authors: N
authors: Donoyama
authors: Norio
authors: N
authors: Ohkoshi