Peripheral lymphocyte subset profiles associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine constitution in 853 adults: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) constitution framework classifies adults as Pinghe (balanced constitution) or as having one or more biased constitution patterns. Whether these questionnaire-based categories correspond to peripheral immune-cell composition remains unclear.

METHODS

We analysed 853 adults in a cross-sectional study with TCM constitution classification and flow-cytometry lymphocyte subset percentages. Constitution variables were analysed as binary indicators. Group differences were summarized with effect sizes, 95% confidence intervals (CI), Mann-Whitney U tests, false discovery rate correction, and age- and sex-adjusted regression. A self-developed KNN-graph Deep Graph Infomax model was used as a secondary internal classification analysis.

RESULTS

Pinghe was present in 569 participants (66.7%, 95% CI 63.5-69.8), and 284 participants were non-Pinghe. No individual immune-cell marker remained significant after false discovery rate correction. Pinghe participants showed a higher total CD3-CD56 + natural killer-cell percentage and a lower total CD3 + T-cell percentage than non-Pinghe participants, with small effect sizes. The post hoc total NK-cell/total T-cell ratio was higher in Pinghe after adjustment for age and sex. The deep-learning model showed moderate internal discrimination but requires external validation.

CONCLUSION

Pinghe constitution was associated with limited differences in peripheral lymphocyte composition. Longitudinal and functional immune studies are needed to determine whether these small differences reflect stable constitution-related immune profiles.