REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1657829
Natural Products Alleviate Viral Pneumonia by Modulating Inflammatory and Oxidative-Stress Pathways
Provisionally accepted
- 1Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
- 2Ordos Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ordos, China
- 3University College London Institute for Global Health, London, United Kingdom
- 4First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
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Viral pneumonia, primarily caused by influenza viruses, coronaviruses, and other respiratory pathogens, is characterized by direct alveolar epithelial injury and an excessive immune response, leading to severe inflammation, oxidative stress, and, in critical cases, acute respiratory distress syndrome and multi-organ failure. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), widely employed in China for both the prevention and treatment of viral pneumonia, provides multitarget and broadspectrum therapeutic benefits with low toxicity and minimal side effects, offering a promising alternative to conventional antiviral therapies. Recent studies have demonstrated that natural products derived from TCM, including flavonoids, polyphenols, polysaccharides, and terpenoids, can effectively modulate immune and oxidative stress responses by targeting multiple signaling pathways. In this review, we conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed, Web of Science, and SciFinder databases, focusing primarily on studies published over the past decade. Keyword combinations included "viral pneumonia," "Traditional Chinese Medicine," "natural products," "inflammation," and "oxidative stress," in addition to mechanism-related terms such as "NF-κB," "Nrf2," "PI3K/Akt," "MAPK," and "NLRP3 inflammasome." Natural compounds acting on these pathways have been shown to suppress cytokine storms, reduce reactive oxygen species accumulation, preserve alveolar epithelial integrity, and alleviate pulmonary inflammation. This review highlights the latest progress in understanding how natural products exert protective effects 2 in viral pneumonia through the modulation of inflammation and oxidative stress-related pathways.These findings provide a theoretical foundation for developing novel anti-inflammatory and antioxidant therapeutic strategies based on natural medicines for the treatment of viral respiratory diseases.
Keywords: Viral Pneumonia, Natural Products, Inflammatory factor, Oxidative Stress, Pathological mechanism
Received: 01 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Tie, Liu, Zhang, Meng and Liang. 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: Qun Liang, First Affiliated Hospital of Heilongjiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.