HMOX1 and hepatocellular carcinoma: As shown in Fig. 7b, the expression patterns of GDF15 and HMOX1, but not GCNT3, in adjacent normal tissues compared with hepatocellular carcinoma showed patterns similar to those in cells treated with qi-tonifying drugs (Figs. 4, 6), implicating the application of these two genes (GDF15 and HMOX1) as biomarkers after treatment with qi-related drugs.