Relation Between the Plasma Aminothiols Level and TCM Syndrome Differentiation of Patients with Diabetic Nephropathy
糖尿病肾病患者血浆硫醇氨基酸与中医辨证分型的相关性研究

Investigation of the potential biomarkers associated with the TCM diagnose of diabetic nephropathy is considered a contributing factor in facilitating TCM modernization and objectivity. This study carried out simultaneous quantitation of eight plasma aminothiols by HPLC-electrospray tandem mass spectrometry, so as to compare the difference between cases and the control. Compared with healthy people, the patients with diabetic nephropathy had dramatically degraded plasma GSH and Cys-gly concentrations, and their plasma SAH, SAM, Hcy, Cysta and Cys level gradually increased with the disease progress. SAH and Hcy indicated the difference between the Yin deficiency and Yin-Yang deficiency groups, especially when significant variance of the SAH concentration existed between Qi deficiency and Yin-yang deficiency. The results showed that plasma GSH and Cys-gly concentration may assist the early TCM diagnose, and the SAH and Hcy levels are associated with the syndrome type.