Acupoint Application with Tianjiu Powder for Pre-asthma: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Background Pre-asthma is a pre-disease state of asthma. However, effective interventions against pre-asthma at currently scant. Objective To assess the clinical efficacy and safety of acupoint application with Tianjiu Powder on treating pre-asthma, aiming to develop a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) preventive therapy regimen for external treatment of pre-asthma. Methods This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-parallel controlled trial. A total of 123 pre-asthma patients treated in the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine from August 1, 2016 to December 31, 2019 were recruited and randomly assigned into the treatment group (n=62) and control group (n=61) at a ratio of 1∶1. During the experimental period, 12 cases were dropped off in the treatment group and finally 50 patients who completed the experiments were involved in. In the control group, 38 cases were finally involved in after excluding 22 cases of drop-off and 1 with bronchiectasis. Acupoint application of Tianjiu Powder and placebo was respectively given to patients of the treatment group (n=50) and control group (n=38). After 24 weeks of treatment, patients were followed up for another 24 weeks. Primary and secondary outcomes before the treatment (V1 visit), at 12 weeks (V2 visit), 24 weeks (V3 visit) and 48 weeks of treatment (end of the follow-up, V4 visit) were compared between groups. The primary outcome was the negative conversion rate of the bronchial provocation test (BPT) /bronchial dilation test (BDT). Secondary outcomes included the positive rate of BPT/BDT, forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1), small airway function indicators, TCM syndrome score, the 36-item Short-Form (SF-36) score, serum eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), eosinophil percentage (EOS%) and total serum immunoglobulin E (IgE). Adverse events were recorded during treatment. Results The negative conversion rate of BPT/BDT at V2 (66.1% vs. 47.5%), V3 (64.5% vs. 44.3%) and V4 (58.1% vs. 36.1%) was significantly higher in the treatment group than that of control group (P<0.05). The main effect of grouping on FEV1 change was significant in BDT (Pgrouping<0.05). The change in FEV1 of BDT at V4 was significantly less in the treatment group than that of the control group (P<0.05). The changes in the peak expiratory flow (PEF) before and after treatment at V2 and V3 were significantly larger in the treatment group than those of control group (P<0.05). Physical Functioning (PF) and Role Physical (RP) scores of the SF-36 at V4 were significantly higher in the treatment group than those of the control group (P<0.05). The General Health (GH) score of the SF-36 before the treatment was significantly lower in the treatment group than that of control group (P<0.05), but no significant difference after treatment was detected between groups (P>0.05). TCM syndrome scores at V2, V3 and V4 were significantly lower in the treatment group than those of the control group, but no significant differences were detected between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in ECP at V1 between the two groups (P>0.05), which, at V3 was significantly higher in the treatment group than control group (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in EOS% and its difference, ECP difference and serum total IgE and its difference at V1 and V3 between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the two groups (P>0.05) . Conclusion Acupoint application with Tianjiu Powder can enhance the rate of negative conversion rate of BPT/BDT, increase PEF, and reduce the change in FEV1 of BDT. It improves the quality of life and offers a high safety in treating pre-asthma.
Author: GUO Xin, ZHOU Mingjuan, FAN Feiting, XIAO Jingmin, CHI Yihe, WU Lei, LIN Lin, CHEN Yuanbin
Language: English
Subfield: Complementary and alternative medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6941431875
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