Monomeric compounds from traditional Chinese medicine: New hopes for drug discovery in pulmonary fibrosis

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a chronic and irreversible pulmonary disease, and can lead to decreased lung function, respiratory failure and even death. The pathogenesis research and treatment strategy of PF significantly lag behind the medical progress and clinical needs. The treatment of this disease remains a thorny clinical problem, and the effective therapeutic drugs are still limited. Monomeric compounds from traditional Chinese medicine own various biological activities and high safety. They play a broad part in treating diseases and is also a candidate drug for preventing and treating PF. In this paper, we reviewed the mechanism of action and potential value of various anti-PF monomeric compounds from traditional Chinese medicine. These monomeric com-pounds can attenuate inflammatory response, oxidative stress, epithelial mesenchymal transformation and other processes of lung through many signaling pathways, and inhibit the activation and differentiation of fibroblasts, thus contributing to the treatment of PF. This review can provide new ideas for the development of anti-PF drugs in high efficiency with low toxicity.

Automated summary

Pulmonary fibrosis (PF) is a chronic and irreversible pulmonary disease that can result in decreased lung function, respiratory failure, and even death. Traditional Chinese medicine monomeric compounds have various biological activities and high safety, making them potential candidate drugs for preventing and treating PF. This review explores the mechanism of action and potential value of these compounds in attenuating lung inflammation, oxidative stress, and fibroblast activation and differentiation, providing new ideas for the development of effective and low-toxicity anti-PF drugs.