Study of the relationship between carotid intima-media thickness and traditional Chinese medicine syndrome of dyslipidemia

Objective  The study aimed to explore the relationship between the carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), lipids, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), homocysteine (Hcy) and other indices of laboratory and the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) syndrome of dyslipidemia. Methods  A total of 152 dyslipidemia patients and 8 healthy people (taken as the control group) were recruited. According to the theory of the TCM syndrome, 152 dyslipidemia patients were assigned to 4 groups: the stagnation of phlegm (SP) group, the blood stasis blocking channels (BSBC) group, the stagnation of phlegm and blood (SPB) group and the non-stagnation of phlegm and blood (NSPB) group. The carotid ultrasonic test, hs-CRP, Hcy, blood rheology and blood lipids were examined for all the recruited patients. The relationships among carotid IMT, laboratory indices and TCM syndrome of dyslipidemia were analyzed by the methods of F test and multiple linear regressions. Results  (1) Carotid IMT was significantly different among groups of healthy people and different TCM syndromes. The sequence from lowest to highest was: healthy group, NSPB group, SP group, SPB group and BSBC group. (2) Triglyceride (TG) and blood rheology were significantly different between the groups of healthy people and different TCM syndromes. Among different TCM syndrome groups, TG and blood rheology in the NSPB group were the lowest, but were the highest in SPB group. (3) Hcy, very low density lipoprotein and TG were correlated with atherosclerosis of the carotid. Conclusion  Carotid IMT, TG and blood rheology were closely correlated with the TCM syndrome of dyslipidemia. Atherosclerosis of the carotids would be prone to occur if one of these factors was heightened. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 90209001)