Objective To analyze the distribution characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine（TCM） patterns in patients with type 2 diabetes（T2 DM）

and to explore the correlation between body mass index（BMI） and concomitant syndromes regarding the main TCM patterns. Methods Four hundred and seventy out of 1400 T2 DM patients who met the inclusion criteria were retrospectively collected. The clinical symptoms and data from four examinations were used to differentiate the main TCM patterns and concomitant syndromes in the 470 patients. The main TCM patterns included exuberant heat damaging fluid pattern

yin deficiency and dryness-heat pattern

deficiency of both qi and yin pattern

yin and yang deficiency pattern; the concomitant syndromes were mainly qi stagnation

phlegm-damp

damp-heat and blood stasis. Patients of the dominant TCM pattern were divided into normal weight group

overweight group and obesity group according to obesity diagnostic criteria. The data on basic information

laboratory indicators including age

gender

medical history

BMI

systolic blood pressure（SBP）

diastolic blood pressure（DBP）

fasting plasma glucose（FPG）

fasting C-Peptide（C-Peptide）

hemoglobin A1 c（HbA1 c）

high-density lipoprotein cholesterol（HDL）

and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol（LDL）

and concomitant syndromes were analyzed and compared between three groups. Logistic regression was used to analyze the influencing factors of overweight and obesity in T2 DM patients of the dominant TCM pattern. Results There were 32 cases（6.81%） of exuberant heat damaging fluid pattern

56 cases（11.92%） of yin deficiency and dryness-heat pattern

359 cases（76.38%） of deficiency of both qi and yin pattern

and 23 cases（4.89%） of yin and yang deficiency pattern

showing that deficiency of both qi and yin pattern was the dominant TCM pattern in 470 T2 DM patients. Of the 359 patients with deficiency of both qi and yin pattern

there were 116 normal weight cases

122 overweight and 121 obesity cases; the obesity cases had significantly decreased C-Peptide value than the normal weight cases（P<0.05）; there were no statistically significant differences between three groups in age

gender

disease course

SBP

DBP

FPG

HbA1 c

HDL and LDL（P>0.05）. The concomitant syndrome was mainly blood stasis in normal weight cases

while that was mainly phlegm-damp and damp-heat in overweight and obesity cases

respectively; C-Peptide（P<0.05

β=-0.26<0

OR=0.77<1） was a protective factor for overweight and obesity patients of deficiency of both qi and yin pattern

while phlegm-damp was a risk factor（P<0.05

β=1.39>0

OR=4.01>1）

and blood stasis was rarely seen（P<0.05

β=-3.06<0

OR=0.047<1）. Conclusion Deficiency of both qi and yin is the dominant pattern of T2 DM patients; for those who has normal weight

blood stasis is usually accompanied

while phlegm-damp and damp-heat are mainly accompanied in overweight and obesity patients. Regarding the treatment

if there is overweight or obesity

more attention should be paid to fortifying the spleen

dispelling dampness and dissolving phlegm while boosting qi and nourishing yin; if the weight is normal

additional attention should be paid to invigorating blood and dissolving stasis based on qi-boosting and yin-nourishing.