REVIEW article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Bone Research
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1638629
This article is part of the Research TopicBone Aging and Osteoporosis: Recent Evidence Focusing on Plant-Based Natural Products - Volume IIView all 7 articles
Mechanisms and Traditional Chinese Medicine Therapeutics for Primary Osteoporosis: An Integrated Perspective
Provisionally accepted
- 1Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
- 2Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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Primary osteoporosis (POP) is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by compromised bone microarchitecture. With the progression of population aging trends, POP has garnered increasing societal concern as a major public health challenge. Contemporary research reveals that POP pathogenesis involves intricate interactions among endocrine regulation, genetic predisposition, and neuromodulation pathways. Recent advances in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) investigations have demonstrated its unique therapeutic advantages in POP management through multi-target regulatory mechanisms. This review systematically examines the molecular pathogenesis of POP and deciphers potential therapeutic mechanisms of TCM for POP involving bone metabolism regulation, including herbal compound-induced osteoblast activation, osteoclast inhibition, and extracellular matrix remodeling. By integrating evidence from pharmacokinetic studies and clinical trials, this analysis provides scientific validation for the efficacy and pharmacological rationale of TCM interventions, while proposing novel clinical intervention strategies that synergize traditional therapeutic wisdom with modern precision medicine approaches. This comprehensive review was conducted based on a systematic literature search across PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wanfang Data databases, encompassing original research articles and reviews published between 2004 and 2024. The search focused on the pathogenesis of primary POP (including hormonal regulation, genetic factors, neuromodulation) and the therapeutic effects of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)(single herbs and formulas). Studies were selected according to predefined inclusion (clear relevance, robust methodology) and exclusion criteria (case reports, duplicates, low-quality studies). Key findings from the included literature were synthesized and critically analyzed.
Keywords: Primary osteoporosis, Etiology and pathogenesis, Pathogenesis, Chinese Medicine Therapeutics, Treat
Received: 31 May 2025; Accepted: 18 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 An, Wu, 毛 and Wu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Lianguo Wu, Second Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China
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