Mechanisms and therapeutic potential of traditional Chinese medicine for inflammatory bowel disease

Table 1 Key traditional Chinese medicine interventions, their primary targets, and level of evidence in inflammatory bowel disease

Key TCM intervention	Primary targets/pathways	Level of evidence
Xianglian pill	TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB	B
Abelmoschus manihot extract	IL-10	B
Glycyrrhiza uralensis aqueous extract	NOD2/RIP2/NF-κB	B
Luteolin	AMPK/PPAR-γ	B, C
Shaoyao decoction	PPAR/NF-κB	B
Phillygenin	TLR4/Src/MAPK, NF-κB	B
Si-Ni-San	Gut microbiota (Akkermansia muciniphila)	B
Ginsenoside-derived exosome-like nanoparticles	NF-κB	C
Gegen Qinlian decoction	AHR/ferroptosis pathway	B
Astragaloside IV	PI3K/AKT	B, C
Baitouweng decoction	AMPK/mTOR	B
Schisandrin	SGK1/NLRP3	B
Qingchang Wenzhong decoction	Guanylyl cyclase-C/HIF-α	B, C (patient cells)
Saussurea costus	Gut microbiota/tight junctions	B
Citropten	NF-κB, JAK/STAT3	B

TCM: Traditional Chinese medicine; TLR4: Toll-like receptor 4; MyD88: Myeloid differentiation primary response 88; NF-κB: Nuclear factor-kappa B; IL: Interleukin; NOD2: Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2; RIP2: Receptor-interacting serine-threonine kinase 2; AMPK: Adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase; PPAR-γ: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ; MAPK: Mitogen-activated protein kinase; AHR: Aryl hydrocarbon receptor; PI3K: Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase; AKT: Protein kinase B; mTOR: Mammalian target of rapamycin; SGK1: Serum/glucocorticoid regulated kinase 1; NLRP3: Nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain-like receptor family pyrin domain containing 3; HIF-α: Hypoxia inducible factor-α; JAK: Janus kinase; STAT3: Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3.