Research progress on the regulation of the Nrf2 signaling pathway by traditional Chinese medicine in ameliorating cholestatic liver disease
- VernacularTitle:中药调控Nrf2信号通路改善胆汁淤积性肝病的研究进展
- Author:
Xiaofei BI
1
;
Jieyao HUANG
2
;
Juan HUANG
2
;
Qiuyan SUN
2
;
Wei FANG
2
;
Yaping XIAO
2
Author Information
1. Dept. of Gastroenterology，Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital，Chongqing 404000，China
2. Dept. of Pharmacy，Chongqing University Three Gorges Hospital，Chongqing 404000，China
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
cholestatic liver disease;
nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2;
TCM active constituents;
TCM formulas;
Chinese patent medicine;
Oxidative stress
- From:
China Pharmacy
2026;37(18):2471-2477
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Cholestatic liver disease （CLD） is closely associated with bile acid homeostasis imbalance， oxidative stress， inflammatory responses， mitochondrial damage， and hepatic fibrosis. Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 （Nrf2） can regulate molecules related to antioxidation， detoxification， and bile acid transport， and together with signaling pathways such as farnesoid X receptor （FXR）， silent information regulator 1/AMP-activated protein kinase， and nuclear factor-κB， participates in the development and progression of CLD. This review summarizes the role of Nrf2 in the development and progression of CLD， as well as the research progress on traditional Chinese medicine （TCM） active constituents and formulas/Chinese patent medicine in regulating Nrf2 for the intervention of CLD. The results indicate that TCM active constituents such as terpenoids， saponins， flavonoids， and polysaccharides， as well as formulas/Chinese patent medicine with the effects of heat-clearing and dampness-draining， liver-soothing and choleretic-promoting， and body-strengthening and liver-protecting， can improve bile acid metabolism and transport and alleviate oxidative stress， inflammatory responses， and hepatic fibrosis by regulating Nrf2-related signaling pathways. However， existing studies still primarily judge based on Nrf2 expression， nuclear translocation， and downstream molecular expression changes， and the understanding of the regulatory relationship between Nrf2 and signaling pathways such as FXR， as well as the synergistic mechanisms of multiple constituents in formulas， remains insufficient. Future studies can strengthen gene intervention and functional validation， utilize liver or bile duct organoids， co-culture systems， and other approaches， and combine bile acid profiling and multi-omics analysis to further elucidate the mechanism by which TCM regulates Nrf2 to ameliorate CLD.
