REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Experimental Pharmacology and Drug Discovery
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1648540
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovative Therapeutic Strategies for Managing Diabetic Foot Ulcers and Mitigating Associated ComplicationsView all 12 articles
Management of diabetic foot ulcers: polyherbal formulations and novel delivery systems for herbal active components
Provisionally accepted
- 1Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
- 2The Four Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, harbin, China
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Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) represent devastating complications associated with high risks of amputation and mortality. The complex pathophysiology of the wound microenvironment and systemic involvement render conventional therapies costly and limited in effectiveness. Consequently, there is an urgent demand for the development of effective and comprehensive therapeutic and management strategies. Herbal medicines and their formulations can transform DFU management from passive debridement to active regeneration through multi-target synergy and holistic intervention, offering low-cost and safe alternatives. Integrating herbal active components with polymeric materials enables the development of novel delivery systems and tissue-engineered scaffolds. This interdisciplinary approach is emerging as a promising therapeutic strategy in regenerative medicine and dermal engineering. This paper compares cellular healing mechanisms in DFUs and normal wounds, elucidates the mechanisms of action of herbal medicines and their formulations in treating DFUs, and synthesizes the applications of novel delivery systems for herbal active components in DFU therapy.
Keywords: Diabetic foot ulcers, Polyherbal formulations, herbal medicines, Novel Drug Delivery Systems, Regenerative Medicine
Received: 17 Jun 2025; Accepted: 05 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Feng, Dou, Wang, Wu, Lan, Su and Zhang. 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: Xiwu Zhang, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
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