The relationship of CCL4, BCL2A1, and NFKBIA genes with premature aging in women of Yin deficiency constitution

Background: Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) defined constitution as a health statue or physical fitness that determines individual susceptibility to diseases. Yin deficiency constitution (YinDC) is a type of constitution closely related to aging. Previous studies found that the characteristic genes of YinDC are part of the inflammatory aging signaling pathways (e.g., NF-kappa B). Therefore, the aim of the study was to further reveal the dysregulation of genes associated with inflammatory aging in YinDC women.

Methods: This study adopted the industrial standard of constitutional judgment, and screened YinDC (n = 30) and Balanced constitution (BC) (n = 30) from women between the ages of 35 to 49, a range categorized as the degenerating period by TCM. Five genes CCL4, BCL2A1, NFKBIA, TAK1, and IL-8 were analyzed by qRT-PCR.

Results: Logistical regression revealed the correlation between body constitution and the expression of the five genes: the expression of NFKBIA and CCL4 mRNA was significantly up-regulated, whereas the expression of BCL2A1 mRNA was significantly down-regulated in YinDC (P < 0.05). Age or weight, when included in the model, did not affected the correlations.

Conclusion: Increased mRNA expression of CCL4 and NFKBIA and decreased mRNA expression of BCL2A1 may be the molecular basis of premature aging of YinDC women. These results provide a mechanistic basis for early conditioning of YinDC, anti-aging, and the prevention of aging-related diseases.