REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1619776
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrating Approaches Traditional and Biomedical Therapies in Rheumatological and other Inflammatory Musculoskeletal DiseasesView all articles
Effects and molecular mechanisms of Achyranthes bidentata Blume and Cyathula officinalis K.C.Kuan in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
Provisionally accepted
- China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
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Achyranthes bidentata Blume (ABB; Chinese name: Huai Niuxi) and Cyathula officinalis K.C.Kuan (COK; Chinese name: Chuan Niuxi), two botanical drugs collectively termed "Niuxi" in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), are widely used for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) management. This review comprehensively summarized the pharmacological mechanisms and therapeutic potential of the metabolites of ABB and COK on RA, while addressing limitations of current evidence. Of the 314 and 185 metabolites contained in ABB and COK, respectively, 22 metabolites (including higenamine, and chikusetsusaponin Ⅳa), showed multiple anti-RA activities. The mechanisms underlying the effects of ABB and COK with respect to the occurrence and development of RA (including inflammatory processes, immunoregulation, fibroblast-like synoviocytes, angiogenesis, oxidative stress, cartilage degradation, and bone destruction) were evaluated (Graphical Abstract). Numerous signaling pathways, such as the nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), and phosphoinositide 3-kinase/protein kinase B (PI3K/AKT), are involved in RA. The metabolites contained in ABB and COK have significant medicinal value and potential in the treatment of RA, while in-depth mechanism studies and clinical research are warranted to support the clinical application of these metabolites.
Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, Achyranthes bidentata Blume, Cyathula officinalis K.C.Kuan, Pharmacology, pharmacokinetics
Received: 28 Apr 2025; Accepted: 07 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, YAN, Lian, Zhou, Xia, He and Xu. 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:
Jun He, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
Yuan Xu, China-Japan Friendship Hospital, Beijing, China
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