Zhao Yi, Zhuang Yugang
Department of Emergency, the Tenth People's Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, China. Corresponding author: Zhuang Yugang, Email:
Zhonghua Wei Zhong Bing Ji Jiu Yi Xue. 2020 Sep;32(9):1040-1044. doi: 10.3760/cma.j.cn121430-20200603-00792.
The "exterior-interior relationship between lung and large intestine" is one of the theories of traditional Chinese medicine, which is scientific in modern medicine. The ancients discovered the specific connection between the lung and large intestine, and constructed the theory of "exterior-interior relationship between lung and large intestine" through the Yin-Yang theory and the meridian attachment. The theory of "exterior-interior relationship between lung and large intestine" has been of great significance in the critical care field since the first study on intestinal tract and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) was carried out in the emergency medicine in 1980s. This article analyzes the consistence of lung and large intestine in early embryonic development, explains the close connection between the lung and large intestine through the intestinal flora translocation theory in sepsis, and reviews the immunoregulation mechanism of helper T cell 17 (Th17) in intestine and lung, and the possible molecular mechanism of immune response, so as to provide physicians with further exploration of the traditional theory of "exterior-interior relationship between lung and the large intestine".
“肺与大肠相表里”是中医理论之一，在现代医学中具有科学性。古人发现了肺与大肠之间的特定联系，并通过阴阳理论和经络附会构建了“肺与大肠相表里”理论。自20世纪80年代急诊医学首次开展关于肠道与急性呼吸窘迫综合征（ARDS）的研究以来，“肺与大肠相表里”理论在危重症领域一直具有重要意义。本文分析了肺与大肠在早期胚胎发育中的一致性，通过脓毒症中的肠道菌群易位理论解释了肺与大肠之间的紧密联系，并综述了辅助性T细胞17（Th17）在肠道和肺中的免疫调节机制以及免疫反应的可能分子机制，以便为医生进一步探索“肺与大肠相表里”的传统理论提供参考。
