Peripheral nerve injury (PNI) encompasses damage to nerves located outside the central nervous system, adversely affecting both motor and sensory functions. Although peripheral nerves possess an intrinsic capacity for self-repair, severe injuries frequently result in significant tissue loss and erroneous axonal junctions, thereby impeding complete recovery and potentially causing neuropathic pain. Various therapeutic strategies, including surgical interventions, biomaterials, and pharmacological agents, have been developed to enhance nerve repair processes. While preclinical studies in animal models have demonstrated the efficacy of certain pharmacological agents in promoting nerve regeneration and mitigating inflammation, only a limited number of these agents have been translated into clinical practice to expedite nerve regeneration. Chinese herb medicine (CHM) possesses a longstanding history in the treatment of various ailments and demonstrates potential efficacy in addressing PNI through its distinctive, cost-effective, and multifaceted methodologies. This review critically examines the advancements in the application of CHM for PNI treatment and nerve regeneration. In particular, we have summarized the most commonly employed and rigorously investigated CHM prescriptions, individual herbs, and natural products, elucidating their respective functions and underlying mechanisms in the context of PNI treatment. Furthermore, we have deliberated on the prospective development of CHM in both clinical practice and fundamental research.
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/pharmacology* ; Humans ; Peripheral Nerve Injuries/drug therapy* ; Animals ; Nerve Regeneration/drug effects* ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional

This paper was aimed to study the effects of Huang-Lian Jie-Du decoction (HJD) on contents of oxidized low density lipoprotein (Ox-LDL),monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP-1),vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM-1),malondialdehyde (MDA),and superoxide dismutase (SOD) of atherosclerosis (AS) rats' liver homogenate.Male SD rats were randomly divided into six groups,which were the normal control group,model group,positive control group (lovastatin),and the low-,middle-,high-dose HJD groups,with ten rats in each group.Except for the normal control group fed with normal diet,others were fed with high-fat diet,and regularly injected the vitamin D3.All groups were gavaged once daily from the 3rd week for 8 weeks until they were sacrificed.The results showed that compared with the normal control group,contents of MCP-1,VCAM-1 and Ox-LDL in the liver homogenate of the model group had significantly increased (p ＜ 0.05),after drug administration,all indexes mentioned above in the positive control group,the low-and middle-dose HJD group were decreased significantly (p ＜ 0.05);contents of MCP-1 and VCAM-1 of the high-dose HJD group decreased obviously (p ＜ 0.01);MDA content of liver homogenate increased significantly,after drug administration,contents of the positive control group and the low-dose HJD group decreased significantly (p ＜ 0.05);SOD content decreased significantly,after drug administration,contents of both the positive control group and the high-dose group increased significantly (p ＜ 0.05).It was concluded that HJD may play a role in AS intervention.Its mechanism may be related to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant reaction.