REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Inflammation
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1568722
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Role of Nod-Like Receptor (NLR) Family of Proteins in InflammationView all 3 articles
The NLRP3 Inflammasome: A Therapeutic Target of Phytochemicals in Treating Atherosclerosis (a systematic review)
Provisionally accepted
- 1Nantong University, Nantong, China
- 2Nantong Stomatological Hospital, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, China
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Atherosclerosis (AS) is a chronic inflammatory disease characterized by the gradual accumulation of plaques in arterial walls, with its pathogenesis remaining incompletely understood. Recent studies have highlighted that development of AS is closely associated with the aberrant activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in the arteries. Inhibition of the NLRP3 inflammasome by natural products and formulae derived from Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) has been shown to alleviate ASassociated pathologies. However, therapies that effectively and safely target the NLRP3 inflammasome remain limited. This review aims to summarize the key discoveries from recent studies on the effects of these natural products and formulae on the NLRP3 inflammasome in the context of AS treatment. A comprehensive literature search was conducted on databases such as Pubmed/MEDLINE up to Janurary 2025, yielding 38 eligible studies. Our analysis indicates that certain therapies can effectively prevent arterial inflammation in animal models by targeting multiple pathways and mechanisms related to the NLRP3 inflammasome. This review summarizes the primary findings of these studies, focusing on the therapeutic effects and underlying mechanisms of action. Based on these insights, we propose future strategies to enhance the efficacy, specificity, and safety of existing natural products and formulae for AS treatment. Additionally, this study offers a perspective for future research that may enhance our understanding of the roles and the mechanisms of CHM-derived phtochemicals and formulae in regulating the NLRP3 inflammasome and treating AS.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis, NLRP3, Inflammasome, natural product, Herbal compound
Received: 30 Jan 2025; Accepted: 22 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Wu, Shao, Mei, Zhang, Xu and Mao. 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: Liming Mao, Nantong University, Nantong, China
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