Objective

2

To explore the distribution and characteristics of traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） syndromes in adults with acute attack of allergic asthma.

Methods

2

A retrospective cross-sectional study was designed to collect data in patients with acute attack of allergic asthma. The TCM syndrome questionnaire was developed， in which patients were divided into four syndromes including external cold and internal rheum syndrome， turbid phlegm obstructing the lung syndrome， wind-phlegm obstructing the lung syndrome， and phlegm-heat obstructing the lung syndrome. SPSS 25.0 software was used to establish a TCM clinical database to analyze the main symptoms， concomitant allergic diseases， allergen IgE type， serum total immunoglobulin E （TIgE） level of each TCM syndrome， and to explore the characteristics of TCM syndromes of adults with acute attack of allergic asthma.

Results

2

A total of 232 patients with acute attack of allergic asthma were included. The top three inhaled allergens were dust mites， cockroaches， and dwarf ambrosia/ artemisia/ humulus/ common ambrosia， while the top three inhaled allergens were crab， sea fish combination， and egg yolk or whites/ shrimp. Among the 232 patients， the main syndrome was wind-phlegm obstructing the lung （53.88%）， followed by phlegm-heat obstructing the lung syndrome （28.45%）， turbid phlegm obstructing the lung syndrome （9.05%） and external cold and internal rheum syndrome （8.62%）. There were no significant differences in gender， age， course of disease， whether accompanied by allergic diseases， disease severity， and allergen IgE type among different TCM syndromes （

P

＞0.05）. The TIgE levels were significantly different among groups （

H

=9.21，

P

＜0.05）， and they were higher in patients with external cold and internal rheum syndrome than with wind-phlegm obstructing the lung syndrome （

P

＜0.0083）. There was no significant difference in the distribution of the main symptoms of patients with different TCM syndrome types （χ

2

=13.53，

P

=0.14）.

Conclusion

2

The main TCM syndromes of adult patients with acute attack of allergic asthma are wind-phlegm obstructing lung syndrome and phlegm-heat obstructing lung syndrome， and higher serum TIgE level is seen in patients with external cold and internal rheum syndrome.