Kidney-Qi deficiency diagnosed by Deng's diagnosis standard was not correlated with aging based on clinical observation of 90 participants

To verify the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) theory that kidney-Qi deficiency (KQD) is considered to be the main cause of aging using cross-sectional study.Demographic and lifestyle characteristics of 90 healthy participants were collected with a self-administered questionnaire. KQD syndrome was diagnosed according to Deng's diagnosis standard. Creatinine-adjusted urinary 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OH-dG) and 8-isomeric-prostaglandin2α (8-iso-PGF2α), salivary advanced oxidation protein products (AOPPs), malondialdehyde (MDA) and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate (DHEA-S) were selected as aging markers and measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.No significant differences were observed in participant characteristics between the KQD group and non-KQD (NKQD) group (P0.05). Levels of 8-OH-dG, 8-iso-PGF2α, AOPPs, and MDA increased with age, except for a slight decrease in 8-OH-dG in the older group. The increase in 8-iso-PGF2α was significant (P0.05). DHEA-S significantly decreased with increasing age (P0.01). 8-OH-dG levels were higher in the KQD group compared with the NKQD group. Levels of urinary 8-iso-PGF2α, salivary AOPPs, and MDA in the KQD group were lower than in the NKQD group. Salivary DHEA-S was higher in the KQD group compared with the NKQD group. However, differences between KQD group and NKQD group were not significant.The current results suggested that KQD syndrome, as diagnosed by Deng's standard, does not underlie the aging phenotype.