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β -Glucan Improves Protective Qi Status in Adults with Protective Qi Deficiency—A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, and Double-Blinded Trial

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Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To test the hypothesis that β -glucan enhances protective qi (PQi), an important Chinese medicine (CM) concept which stipulates that a protective force circulates throughout the body surface and works as the first line of defense against “external pernicious influences”.

Methods

A total of 138 participants with PQi deficiency (PQD) were randomized to receive β -glucan (200 mg daily) or placebo for 12 weeks. Participants’ PQi status was assessed every 2 weeks via conventional diagnosis and a standardized protocol from which a PQD severity and risk score was derived. Indices of participants’ immune and general health status were also monitored, including upper respiratory tract infection (URTI), saliva secretory IgA (sIgA), and self-reported measures of physical and mental health (PROMIS).

Results

PQi status was not significantly different between the β -glucan and placebo treatment groups at baseline but improved significantly in the β -glucan (vs. placebo) group in a time-dependent manner. The intergroup differences [95% confidence interval (CI)] in severity score (scale: 1–5), risk score (scale: 0–1), and proportion of PQD participants (%) at finish line was 0.49 (0.35–0.62), 0.48 (0.35–0.61), and 0.36 (0.25–0.47), respectively. Additionally, β -glucan improved URTI symptom (scale: 1–9) and PROMIS physical (scale: 16.2–67.7) and mental (scale: 21.2–67.6) scores by a magnitude (95% CI) of 1.0 (0.21–1.86), 5.7 (2.33–9.07), and 3.0 (20.37–6.37), respectively, over placebo.

Conclusions

β -glucan ameliorates PQi in PQD individuals. By using stringent evidence-based methodologies, our study demonstrated that Western medicine-derived remedies, such as β -glucan, can be employed to advance CM therapeutics. (ClinicalTrial.Gov registry: NCT03782974)

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Data availability: Data are available upon request.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Elegant and Olive Health Clinic, Markham, ON, L3R 5V6, Canada

    Jun-rong Wu, Jian-pin Shi, Wei-dong Yin, Jun Wang, Xuan-qiao Ou & Jin-li Chen

  2. Research and Development Department, USANA Health Science, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, 84121, USA

    Hao-jie Cheng, Mark Levy, Rolando Maddela, Robert Sinnott & Jun-qiang Tian

  3. Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8, Canada

    Ira Bernstein

Authors
  1. Jun-rong Wu
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  2. Hao-jie Cheng
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  3. Jian-pin Shi
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  4. Wei-dong Yin
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  5. Jun Wang
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  6. Xuan-qiao Ou
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  7. Jin-li Chen
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  8. Ira Bernstein
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  9. Mark Levy
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  10. Rolando Maddela
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  11. Robert Sinnott
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  12. Jun-qiang Tian
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Contributions

Wu JR, Cheng HJ, Shi JP, Yin WD, Wang J, Levy M, Sinnott R, and Tian JQ designed the research (project conception and development of overall research plan); Wu JR, Shi JP, Yin WD, Wang J, Ou XQ, Chen JL, and Bernstein I were on-site investigators who conducted the research (hands-on conduct of the trial and data collection); Cheng HJ, Tian JQ, and Levy M processed the data and performed statistical analysis; Levy M and Cheng HJ wrote the Institutional Research Board (IRB) proposal and registered the study at clinicaltrial. gov.; Maddela R participated in study design and oversight of the trial progress; Tian JQ, Levy M, and Cheng HJ are the persons who primarily wrote the manuscript; Maddela R edited the manuscript; Wu JR and Cheng HJ contributed equally to this work; Tian JQ had primary responsibility for final content.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jun-qiang Tian.

Ethics declarations

Cheng HJ, Levy M, Maddela R, Sinnott R, and Tian JQ were employees of USANA Health Science, the manufacturer of Proglucamune® at the time of the study. Wu JR, Cheng HJ, Shi JP, Yin WD, Wang J, Ou XQ, and Chen JL were product distributors of USANA Health Science at the time of the study.

Additional information

Supported by USANA Health Science Inc., the manufacturer of Proglucamune®

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Wu, Jr., Cheng, Hj., Shi, Jp. et al. β -Glucan Improves Protective Qi Status in Adults with Protective Qi Deficiency—A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, and Double-Blinded Trial. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 28, 394–402 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-021-3444-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-021-3444-0

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