According to the Chinese medicine theory，the human body is an integral system capable of self-regulation and control，while the theory of pathogenesis focuses on studying the physiology of disease from dynamic function and whole structure.Myelodysplastic syndromes(MDS)are a group of hematopoietic stem cell malignant cloned diseases，in which the risk stratification differs greatly，and it is easy to transform into acute myeloid leukemia.Generally，MDS at early stage or with low risk are mainly characterized by"positive qi become weak"syndrome types or accompanied with"stasis-toxin"symptoms.MDS at advanced stage or with high risk are mainly characterized by"stasis-toxin"syndrome types，and the damage or even degeneration of healthy qi is presented meanwhile.With the development of modern molecular biology，the material basis of Chinese medicine syndrome types is gradually revealed and clarified：the differential expression of apoptosis and autophagy of bone marrow mononuclear cells in patients with MDS with different risks is highly correlated with different Chinese medicine syndrome types.The excessive apoptosis and/or reduction of autophagy in low-risk MDS all conform to the characteristics of Chinese medicine syndrome types and pathogenesis in patients with positive qi become weak syndrome types，while the decrease of apoptosis and further inhibition of autophagy during the transformation from low risk to high risk are consistent with the symptoms and pathogenesis of patients with stasis-toxin syndrome types.