Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33963479›Full record

Trial reportChinese journal of integrative medicine2022

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

Jun-Rong Wu, Hao-Jie Cheng, Jian-Pin Shi, Wei-Dong Yin, Jun Wang, Xuan-Qiao Ou, Jin-Li Chen, Ira Bernstein, Mark Levy, Rolando Maddela and 2 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Chinese journal of integrative medicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03782974 (A Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Triple-blinded Evaluation of Proglucamune® in the Treatment of Protective Qi Deficiency), which is not on this map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 52% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03782974 nacompletednot on this map

A Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Triple-blinded Evaluation of Proglucamune® in the Treatment of Protective Qi Deficiency

TypeinterventionalSponsorUSANA Health SciencesRan2019 to 2019Enrolled207ConditionsProtective Qi Insufficiency (a Condition Term From TCM)Armsbeta glucan
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jun-Rong WuElegant and Olive Health Clinic, Markham, ON, L3R 5V6, Canada.
Hao-Jie ChengResearch and Development Department, USANA Health Science, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, 84121, USA.
Jian-Pin ShiElegant and Olive Health Clinic, Markham, ON, L3R 5V6, Canada.
Wei-Dong YinElegant and Olive Health Clinic, Markham, ON, L3R 5V6, Canada.
Jun WangElegant and Olive Health Clinic, Markham, ON, L3R 5V6, Canada.
Xuan-Qiao OuElegant and Olive Health Clinic, Markham, ON, L3R 5V6, Canada.
Jin-Li ChenElegant and Olive Health Clinic, Markham, ON, L3R 5V6, Canada.
Ira BernsteinDepartment of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M5T 2S8, Canada.
Mark LevyResearch and Development Department, USANA Health Science, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, 84121, USA.
Rolando MaddelaResearch and Development Department, USANA Health Science, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, 84121, USA.
Robert SinnottResearch and Development Department, USANA Health Science, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, 84121, USA.
Jun-Qiang TianResearch and Development Department, USANA Health Science, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT, 84121, USA. jeremy.tian@usanainc.com.
University of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo 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".

methodsA 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).

resultsPQi 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.

conclusionsβ -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).

Indexed as

beta-GlucansAdultDouble-Blind MethodHumansQiRisk FactorsSelf Reportbeta-GlucansChinese medicineprotective qiprotective qi deficiencyβ -glucan

Identifiers

PMID33963479
OpenAlexW3158625721

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.