An Objective Diagnosis Model with Integrated Metabolic and Immunity Parameters for Phlegm-Dampness Constitution

Yanchun Huang; Shanshan Guo; Jun Yang; Yangfan Tang; Xinghua Zhu; Sichong Ren

doi:10.1155/2022/3353549

An Objective Diagnosis Model with Integrated Metabolic and Immunity Parameters for Phlegm-Dampness Constitution

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2022 Feb 4:2022:3353549. doi: 10.1155/2022/3353549. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Yanchun Huang¹, Shanshan Guo², Jun Yang¹, Yangfan Tang², Xinghua Zhu¹, Sichong Ren^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Laboratory Medicine, The First People's Hospital of Longquanyi District, Chengdu, West China Longquan Hospital Sichuan University, Chengdu 610100, China.
² Center for Translational Medicine, Sichuan Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Translational Chinese Medicine Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu 610041, China.
³ Department of Nephrology, Clinical Medical College and the First Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu Medical College, Chengdu, China.

Abstract

Background: According to Chinese constitutional theory, people can be divided into nine constitutions, which represent distinctive vulnerability to different diseases such as metabolic syndrome, atherosclerosis, and immunity-related disease, and so forth in modern medicine, phlegm-dampness constitution (PDC) is one of the nine constitutions, which is susceptible to metabolic syndrome (MS) and atherosclerosis that associate with lipid metabolism and immunity dysregulation closely.

Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the metabolic and immunity profiles of phlegm-damp constitution (PDC), including metabolites, lymphocytes distribution, and inflammatory cytokines.

Methods: A total of 74 patients with PDC and 66 individuals with gentle constitution (GC) were enrolled in this study. We utilized biochemical methods to detect metabolic parameters, flow cytometry to survey T/B/NK/NKT lymphocyte subgroups distribution, and ELISA to assay inflammatory cytokines.

Results: The subjects with PDC had higher GLU, AI TC, TG, and LDL-C and lower HDL-C levels. The immunity profile indicated that PDC subjects had higher percentage of WBCs, neutrophils, lymphocytes, B cells, and natural killer T cells compared with subjects with GC (P < 0.05). Serum levels of IL-10 decreased significantly in the subjects with phlegm-damp constitution, whereas IL-12 levels increased dramatically in the PDC group compared with the GC group (both P < 0.05). Additionally, logistic regression identified four independent variables (GLU, TG, LDL-C, and lymphocytes) that were highly correlated with PDC (P < 0.05). The area under the curve of the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.878, which indicated the data were reliable to distinguish the subjects with PDC from the ones with GC.

Conclusion: Phlegm-damp constitution was prone to hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia syndrome, promoting the occurrence and progression of metabolic-related diseases. Interestingly, proinflammatory cells and cytokines were activated in the PDC group as well. Our findings could offer a profile of early screening indicators to identify high-risk patients of metabolic- and immunity-related diseases from Chinese constitution.