Effective Ingredients of Chinese Medicine in Prevention and Treatment of Osteoarthritis by Regulating Oxidative Stress： A Review / 中国实验方剂学杂志

ABSTRACT

Osteoarthritis （OA） is a common degenerative joint disease with a rising incidence rate year by year. Treatment often relies on analgesics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs （NSAIDs）， which can lead to gastrointestinal damage with long-term use and the recurrence of symptoms. Chinese medicine has a long history of preventing and treating OA， with widespread application and fewer side effects. It offers unique advantages such as a broad treatment scope， multiple targets， and pathways. The effective components of Chinese medicine can reduce the content of reactive oxygen species （ROS）， relieve oxidative stress （OS） damage， and increase the antioxidant capacity of the body by interfering with the expression of biomarkers of OS response such as malondialdehyde （MDA） and superoxide dismutase （SOD）. Through the modulation of signaling pathways such as nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 （Nrf2）/heme oxygenase-1 （HO-1）， phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase （PI3K）/protein kinase B （Akt）， nuclear factor kappa B （NF-κB）， c-Jun N-terminal kinase （JNK）， NOD-like receptor protein 3 （NLRP3）， and osteoprotegerin （OPG）， they downregulated the expression of inflammatory factors such as interleukin-6 （IL-6）， interleukin-1β （IL-1β）， and tumor necrosis factor-α （TNF-α）， thereby effectively relieving local joint inflammation， protecting chondrocytes and bone tissue， inhibiting chondrocyte apoptosis， and further alleviating the progression of OA. Currently， there are still certain limitations in the medical research status and development trends of OA， necessitating the continued advancement of traditional Chinese medicine. This paper reviewed the literature on the regulation of OS response by effective components of Chinese medicine for the prevention and treatment of OA， providing new directions and ideas for future research.