RESUMO
Osteoporosis （OP）， a common systemic skeletal disease in the elderly， is characterised by bone loss and bone microstructural degeneration. Its clinical manifestations include increased bone fragility and bone pain. Furthermore， OP increases the risk of fracture due to the high bone fragility， which leads to lifelong disability or death， imposing a heavy economic and psychological burden on the patients and their families. The pathogenesis of OP is extremely complex and associated with a variety of factors such as proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts， impairment of osteoclast activity and function， and abnormalities in autophagy activation. Recent studies have found that mammalian target of rapamycin （mTOR） signaing pathway is involved in the regulation of bone homeostasis， which can promote bone formation and improve bone metabolism and bone microstructure by regulating osteoblast proliferation and differentiation and osteoclast function and activating cellular autophagy， thus playing a crucial role in the prevention and treatment of OP. The prevention and treatment of OP with Chinese medicine has a long history， clear efficacy， multiple targets of action， low adverse effects， and wide medicine sources. Therefore， this paper briefly describes the role of mTOR signaling pathway in the development of OP by reviewing the latest research reports and summarizes in detail the latest research results on the treatment of OP with Chinese medicine extracts and prescriptions via the mTOR signaling pathway. This review aims to provide a basis for the in-depth research on the relationship between mTOR signaling pathway and OP and the clinical application of traditional Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of OP.
RESUMO
The prevalence of osteoporosis， osteoarthritis， gouty arthritis， rheumatoid arthritis， and intervertebral disc degeneration is increasing year by year with the growing number of elderly people， and the common clinical manifestations of these diseases include severe pain in different areas， which seriously affects the daily life of the patients. Therefore， how to relieve the pain and reduce the prevalence of bone and joint diseases and improve the quality of life of the patients is a hot spot in the medical field. Studies have confirmed that NOD-like receptor family， pyrin domain-containing protein 3 （NLRP3） inflammasomes， as pattern recognition receptors， are involved in the inflammation， chondrocyte proliferation， osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation， intervertebral disc cell inflammation and scorching， extracellular matrix degradation and apoptosis， mitochondrial dysfunction， endoplasmic reticulum stress， and reactive oxygen species damage， demonstrating close link with the development of bone and joint diseases. Chinese medicine has a long history and demonstrates remarkable therapeutic effects in the treatment of bone and joint diseases. It can mitigate the pathological changes of bone and joint diseases by inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasomes to alleviate the pain， playing a role in preventing and treating these diseases. Therefore， this paper briefly describes the relationship between NLRP3 inflammasomes and the development of bone and joint diseases by reviewing the latest research progress at home and abroad. We summarize the latest studies about the active components， extracts， and compound prescriptions of Chinese medicines in the treatment of bone and joint diseases via regulating NLRP3 inflammasomes. This review is expected to offer new insights into the in-depth research on the pathogenesis and drug treatment of bone and joint diseases and provide a basis for the clinical application of Chinese medicine in the prevention and treatment of such diseases.