Pulmonary Intestinal Transmission Based on the Theory of"Interior-exterior Relationship between Liver and Gallbladder"
The lung and large intestine are paired organs with interior-exterior relationship,and in traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),their relationship is summarized as being interconnected through meridians and collaterals and sharing physiological and pathological associations.A review of the literature reveals that the lung and large intestine are closely linked in embryonic origin,neurohumoral regulation,immunology,signal transduction pathways,and gut microbiota systems.These physiological and pathologi-cal interconnections form the basis of interior-exterior relationship of the lung and large intestine.Building on this foundation,the transmission dynamics between pulmonary diseases affecting the intestine and intestinal diseases affecting the lung have led to ther-apeutic strategies such as treating intestinal diseases to address lung disorders,treating lung diseases to manage intestinal condi-tions,or adopting combined lung-intestine treatments.By integrating epidemiological findings and evidence-based medicine,the the-oretical framework of the lung and large intestine as paired organs can be further refined and applied in clinical practice.
LungLarge intestinePhysiology and pathologyTraditional Chinese medicineEpidemiologyMeridianImmunolo-gySignaling pathwayGut microbiota