REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Traditional Chinese medicine for HIV-related chronic comorbidities: evidence and potential therapeutic mechanisms
Provisionally accepted
- 1First Clinical Medical College, Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
- 2Department of Medical, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
- 3Department of AIDS Clinical Research Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
HIV-related chronic comorbidities negatively impact health and present a global public health challenge, necessitating the development of new drugs and therapeutic approaches.Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) formulations, used for over 2,000 years, are increasingly studied for managing these conditions. Recently, an increasing number of studies have informed the clinical management of HIV-related chronic comorbidities. In this review, we describe the clinical applications and therapeutic mechanisms of Chinese botanical drugs in treating HIV-related chronic comorbidities, including cardiovascular diseases, chronic kidney disease, neurocognitive disorders, metabolic syndrome, and osteoporosis. We found that various key metabolites, such as tanshinones, berberine, and astragalus polysaccharide, show beneficial effects across these systems, primarily by modulating key pathogenic drivers. The therapeutic mechanisms elucidated primarily involve inhibition of viral replication, modulation of inflammatory pathways (e.g., NF-κB, MAPK, TLR4), restoration of intestinal mucosal integrity, and rebalancing of immune homeostasis (e.g., Th17/Treg balance). These preclinical evidences support the effectiveness of Chinese botanical drugs as a complementary and alternative approach, but most of the current evidence comes from in vitro and animal studies, and significant limitations remain in clinical translational value. Further rigorous clinical trials are needed to verify the efficacy and safety of Chinese botanical drugs in treating people living with HIV.
Keywords: HIV Infections, Comorbidity, Chinese botanical drugs, complementary, Alternative
Received: 05 Sep 2025; Accepted: 03 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li, Xu, Ding, Ma, Qian, Qiu and Yue. 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: Jingyu Yue
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.