Characteristics of Blood Glucose Excursions in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients with Three Different Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndromes

Objective: To explore the characteristics of blood glucose excursions of type 2 diabetes mellitus patients with three different Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) syndromes.

Methods: One hundred and nine patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus were recruited from the Department of Endocrinology and the Department ***of TCM of the Sixth People's Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Subjects were divided into three groups according to TCM syndrome: intrinsic Damp (n = 42), Yin deficiency and internal Heat (n = 25), and Qi and Yin deficiency (n = 42). Subcutaneous interstitial glucose was monitored with a continuous glucose monitoring system for 3 consecutive days to investigate the glycemic profile in each group. Plasma C-peptide levels were measured, and an arginine test was taken in 10 patients randomly selected from each group. Glucose data and glycemic variability were analyzed to investigate the differences among the groups. The change in C-peptide levels and the results from arginine trial were used to evaluate β cell function.

Results: Indicators reflecting blood glucose level were the highest in subjects with Yin deficiency and internal Heat syndrome, and parameters reflecting glycemic variability were the lowest in those with Qi and Yin deficiency syndrome. The change in C-peptide levels showed that subjects with Qi and Yin deficiency syndrome had the best β cell function among the three groups; this was confirmed by the arginine trial.

Conclusion: Patients with Qi and Yin deficiency syndrome had a more stable blood glucose profile, as glycemic variability was higher in those with intrinsic Damp syndrome and those with Yin deficiency and internal Heat syndrome.