Research Focus

Integrated Research on Sjögren’s Syndrome and Dry Eye

Focusing on Sjögren’s syndrome and dry eye through Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, HRV, tongue/pulse assessment, ocular surface testing, and multimodal objective measurements.

My perspective

This is the research direction I care about most and the one I want to build over the long term. To me, Sjögren’s syndrome and dry eye are not merely local dryness problems. They reflect a much larger clinical network involving immune dysregulation, autonomic imbalance, mucosal disturbance, and impaired quality of life. My goal is not only to show that an intervention works, but to build a platform that truly connects traditional Chinese medicine, objective measurement, and translational research.

What I care about most in this area

Whole-disease understanding

I do not look at eye dryness alone. I want to understand dryness, fatigue, sleep, autonomic function, and immune activity as one integrated clinical picture.

Bridging TCM and objective measurements

I care deeply about bringing Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, tongue/pulse findings, HRV, ocular surface testing, and symptom scales into the same research framework.

From clinical response back to mechanism

Improvement matters, but I also want to ask what immunologic, neurologic, and exosomal signals may underlie that improvement.

Building a durable platform

This direction is not just about one paper; it is a long-term platform extending to AI tongue diagnosis, proteomics, oral microbiota, and clinical trials.

Representative papers

Herbal Formula SS-1 Increases Tear Secretion for Sjögren's Syndrome (2021)A key paper linking herbal intervention with improvement in sicca symptoms.

Evaluation of TBDESJS in Patients with Sjögren’s Syndrome and Dry Eye Syndrome (2024)Represents my effort to connect a practical herbal formulation with formal clinical evaluation.

Unveiling the Age-Related Dynamics in Sjögren's Syndrome (2024)Reflects my interest in autonomic function and HRV in Sjögren’s syndrome.

Representative projects

I list each directly relevant project separately here, including both NSTC and hospital-based projects. If this website does not currently contain a standalone project for this theme, I leave it blank rather than forcing a match.

NSTC 114-2628-B-A49-006-MY3Electroacupuncture at GB20 for dry eye: efficacy and mechanism analysis through AQP5, muscarinic receptor regulation, and exosomal miRNA–mediated NF-κB/MAPK pathways2025.08–2028.07, NSTC

NSTC 113-2320-B-A49-029Systematic dissection of exosome-miRNA and transcriptome profiling of dry eye syndrome and Sjögren’s syndrome for alleviating sicca symptoms2024.08–2025.07, NSTC, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06475027

NSTC-111-2320-B-075-006-MY2Using oral microbiota to evaluate the immediate and long-term efficacy of acupuncture GB20 plus BL2 in ocular and oral dryness symptoms of dry eye syndrome and Sjögren’s syndrome2022.08–2024.07, NSTC, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04877483

V115C-111Application of the Chinese herbal tea TBDESJS on an integrated lipid metabolism and immune-cell response platform: Sjögren’s syndrome and dry eye syndrome as examples2026.01–2026.12, Taipei Veterans General Hospital project

V114C-078Systemic proteomic analysis of plasma exosomes to explore immunomodulatory expression in patients with Sjögren’s syndrome and dry eye syndrome2025.01–2025.12, Taipei Veterans General Hospital project, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06771427

V113C-087Evaluation of VGH-DESJS-1 herbal tea in ocular and oral dryness symptoms of dry eye syndrome and Sjögren’s syndrome (Year 2: exosome-based mechanism study)2024.01–2024.12, Taipei Veterans General Hospital project, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT06475027

V112C-190Evaluation of VGH-DESJS-1 herbal tea in ocular and oral dryness symptoms of dry eye syndrome and Sjögren’s syndrome2023.01–2023.12, Taipei Veterans General Hospital project, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05656196

V109B-034DNA exome sequencing to explore associations among gene sequence, TCM constitution, tongue diagnosis, and pulse diagnosis in Sjögren’s syndrome (Year 2: integrated functional proteomics and oral microbiome)2020.01–2020.12, Taipei Veterans General Hospital project, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03935373

V108B-031DNA exome sequencing to explore associations among gene sequence, TCM constitution, tongue diagnosis, and pulse diagnosis in Sjögren’s syndrome2019.01–2019.12, Taipei Veterans General Hospital project, ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT03935373

V106A-006IFN-γ–induced human submandibular salivary gland cell model to evaluate the mitochondrial antioxidant mechanism of the top 10 commonly used single Chinese herbs for Sjögren’s syndrome from NHIRD2017.01–2017.12, Taipei Veterans General Hospital project

Teaching links

Media: Integrative Therapy for Sjögren’s Syndrome and Dry EyeA teaching-oriented entry point to this clinical focus.

Hansheng radio: Introduction to Sjögren’s syndromeUseful as a patient and student entry-level resource.