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Review
. 2021 Oct 28:12:778041.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.778041. eCollection 2021.

Bioactive Herbal Extracts of Traditional Chinese Medicine Applied with the Biomaterials: For the Current Applications and Advances in the Musculoskeletal System

Haotao Li  1   2 , Rongjie Wu  1   2 , Haiyang Yu  1 , Qiujian Zheng  1 , Yuanfeng Chen  1   3
Affiliations
Review

Bioactive Herbal Extracts of Traditional Chinese Medicine Applied with the Biomaterials: For the Current Applications and Advances in the Musculoskeletal System

Haotao Li et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has demonstrated superior therapeutic effect for musculoskeletal diseases for thousands of years. Recently, the herbal extracts of TCM have received rapid advances in musculoskeletal tissue engineering (MTE). A literature review collecting both English and Chinese references on bioactive herbal extracts of TCM in biomaterial-based approaches was performed. This review provides an up-to-date overview of application of TCMs in the field of MTE, involving regulation of multiple signaling pathways in osteogenesis, angiogenesis, anti-inflammation, and chondrogenesis. Meanwhile, we highlight the potential advantages of TCM, opening the possibility of its extensive application in MTE. Overall, the superiority of traditional Chinese medicine turns it into an attractive candidate for coupling with advanced additive manufacturing technology.

Keywords: biomaterials; herbal extracts; musculoskeletal tissue engineering; orthopedics; traditional Chinese medicine.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Illustration of icariin: the origin, molecular structure, and biomedical researches. Icariin is obtained from the leaves of Epimedium herb. As a widely used TCM, icariin demonstrates extensive therapeutic capacities such as osteogenic differentiation, tubulogenesis, and chondrogenic factor expression. Calvarial defect, distal femoral defect and ONFH mice/rabbits are commonly used animal models.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Illustration of ginseng: the origin, molecular structure, and biomedical researches. Ginsenoside is the major active ingredient in ginseng, including Rb1, Rb2, Rc, Rd, Re, Rg1, and so on. Thus far, ginseng has been frequently studied form the aspects of cells, biomaterials, and animals. It shows potent angiogenesis, osteogenesis, and anti-inflammation activity by inducing osteogenic cell proliferation, tube formation, and macrophage chemotaxis.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Illustration of naringin: the origin and biomedical researches. Naringin is a natural flavonoid present in several fruits of the Citrus genus. As a flavonoid with multiple therapeutic targets in orthopedic tissues, naringin exhibits osteogenic, angiogenic, and anti-inflammation effects in preclinical studies.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Schematic representation of the musculoskeletal application of traditional Chinese medicines.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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