BACKGROUND:The etiology of osteoarthritis is varied and its pathogenesis is still unclear.As bioinformatics has been deepening in recent years,increasing studies have found that the aberrant expression of long non-coding RNAs(lncRNAs)and microRNAs(miRNAs)in joint tissues may mediate the downstream signaling pathways involved in the development of osteoarthritis. OBJECTIVE:To review the mechanism of lncRNA in the development of osteoarthritis and the therapeutic effects of monomers and active compounds derived from traditional Chinese medicine that modulate lncRNA and downstream signaling pathways in osteoarthritis. METHODS:We searched CNKI,WanFang,VIP,and PubMed using the search terms of"long non-coding RNA,knee osteoarthritis,miRNA,chondrocytes,signaling pathway,and traditional Chinese medicine"in Chinese and English,respectively.The search time was from the inception of each database to March 2023.A total of 61 articles were included according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:The pathogenesis of knee osteoarthritis involves a complex molecular regulatory network,including aberrant expression of lncRNAs and miRNAs in cartilage tissues,which may lead to apoptosis of chondrocytes,degradation of cartilage extracellular matrix,and production of large amounts of pro-inflammatory cytokines.These changes interact with each other to cause degeneration of articular cartilage and progression of osteoarthritis.Therefore,further in-depth studies are needed to reveal the fine mechanisms of the molecular regulatory network.The mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of osteoarthritis mainly focuses on regulating the expression of lncRNA and miRNA,thereby alleviating chondrocyte apoptosis and extracellular matrix degradation,promoting cell proliferation,and slowing down the development of osteoarthritis.