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. 2023 Jul 12;9(7):e18055.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e18055. eCollection 2023 Jul.

Ultra-weak photon emission as a potential tool for evaluating the therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine in patients with type 2 diabetes

Meina Yang  1   2 , Zhongwen Zhang  1 , Jialei Fu  3 , Junyan Liu  4 , Jiangxiang Pang  2 , Hua Fan  5 , Zailin Yang  6 , Yuanbin Zhang  6 , Jinxiang Han  2
Affiliations

Ultra-weak photon emission as a potential tool for evaluating the therapeutic effect of traditional Chinese medicine in patients with type 2 diabetes

Meina Yang et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been used to prevent and treat type 2 diabetes (T2DM) for thousands of years. The holistic view of TCM and the "multitarget" characteristics of Chinese medicine have unique advantages in the prevention and treatment of T2DM. TCM syndrome differentiation and treatment are effective for T2DM; however, currently, the therapeutic effect of TCM is generally evaluated by asking for patients' subjective feelings, or by checking the changes in relevant indicators. The main problems are that the patient's descriptions are unclear and subjective, and although the self-reported symptoms may have improved significantly, the relevant indicators are sometimes not obvious, which cannot truly reflect the therapeutic effect of TCM. Therefore, it is urgent to develop a novel, sensitive, and noninvasive method to quantitatively evaluate the therapeutic effect of TCM.

Methods: In this study, ultra-weak photon emission (UPE) was measured at four sites of hands of T2DM patients with Qi-Yin deficiency before treatment and after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment with TCM. The UPE intensity and spectral distribution were calculated and analyzed using the results measured at these four sites. Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to quantify the correlation between the UPE parameters and the syndrome scores of TCM.

Results: The UPE intensity of T2DM patients with Qi-Yin deficiency decreased gradually with the course of the treatment and was significantly lower than that before the treatment. The ratio of photon counts between the wavelength ranges of 495-550 nm and 550-610 nm after the treatment was higher than that before the treatment and negatively correlated with the corresponding syndrome scores so that the degree of symptoms improvement could be characterized by the ratio (495-550 nm/550-610 nm).

Conclusions: The therapeutic effect of TCM in T2DM patients with Qi-Yin deficiency can be shown at the level of UPE. UPE is a potential and noninvasive tool for evaluating the therapeutic effect of TCM in patients with T2DM.

Keywords: Noninvasive; Syndrome of TCM; Therapeutic effect; Type 2 diabetes; Ultra-weak photon emission (UPE).

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schematic representation of the two-hand photon-detecting system.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The photograph of the two-hand photon-detecting system.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The UPE intensity of both hands of type 2 diabetes patients with Qi-Yin deficiency before treatment and after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment. (A) The palm of the left hand. (B) The back of the left hand. (C) The palm of the right hand. (D) The back of the right hand.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The UPE spectral distribution of the left hand of T2DM patients with Qi-Yin deficiency before treatment and after treatment for 1 and 2 weeks. (A) The palm of the left hand. (B) The back of the left hand.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
The UPE spectral distribution of the right hand of type 2 diabetes patients with Qi-Yin deficiency before treatment and after treatment for 1 and 2 weeks. (A) The palm of the right hand. (B) The back of the right hand.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
The ratio of photon counts between 495–550 nm and 550–610 nm of both hands of type 2 diabetes patients with Qi-Yin deficiency before treatment and after 1 and 2 weeks of treatment. (A) The left hand. (B) The right hand.
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
The syndrome scores(A) and blood sugar level(B) of type 2 diabetes patients with Qi-Yin deficiency before treatment and after treatment for 1 and 2 weeks.
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Correlation analysis between the ratio (495–550 nm/550–610 nm) of the UPE from the palm of the left hand (A), back of the left hand (B), palm of the right hand (C), back of the right hand (D), and the syndrome scores after treatment for 2 weeks. For A–D, p < 0.001.
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