Effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy on gene expression: preliminary study.

OBJECTIVES Changes in gene expression after traditional Japanese massage therapy were investigated to clarify the mechanisms of the clinical effects of traditional Japanese massage therapy. DESIGN This was a pilot experimental study. SETTINGS/LOCATION The study was conducted in a laboratory at Tsukuba University of Technology. SUBJECTS The subjects were 2 healthy female volunteers (58-year-old Participant A, 55-year-old Participant B). INTERVENTIONS 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. OUTCOME MEASURES 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.