Insight of traditional Chinese medicine in treating pulmonary hypertension: Achievements from 2021 to 2025.

Clinical Snapshot

Key Findings

• P Value: Not applicable for narrative review

• Effect Size: Not quantified - qualitative synthesis only

• Primary Outcome: TCM interventions show therapeutic potential through multiple signaling pathways

• Nnt Or Sensitivity: Not calculated - insufficient quantitative data

• Confidence Interval: Not reported

Clinical Application

Limited by lack of standardized TCM preparations and variable quality control in herbal medicines Limited applicability - most TCM preparations not TGA-approved, would require specialist TCM practitioner consultation, not covered by PBS Patients with pulmonary hypertension seeking complementary therapies, particularly in settings where TCM is integrated into healthcare

Abstract

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) significantly impairs patients' quality of life and imposes a substantial economic burden. Despite advances in pharmacotherapy, PH remains a life-threatening pulmonary vascular disease. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), with its multi-target and multi-pathway mechanisms, has shown therapeutic potential for PH management. AIMS OF THE REVIEW: This review systematically summarizes TCM formulas, extracts, and active components, along with their pharmacological mechanisms, for the treatment of PH, and highlights the advantages of TCM in managing PH. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic review of the literature on TCM for PH was conducted. The search included scientific publications from January 2021 to August 2025. Relevant articles were identified through comprehensive searches of PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar. The search strategy combined keywords including "pulmonary hypertension", "pulmonary arterial hypertension", "Traditional Chinese Medicine", "Chinese herbal medicine", "herb", "formula", "extract", "active component", and "active ingredient". Retrieved publications were screened and analyzed using pre-defined inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure relevance and methodological quality. RESULTS: This review synthesizes findings on TCM-based theory, experimental models, TCM formulas (both classical and novel), extracts (including ethanol/aqueous extracts, volatile oils, total flavonoids, saponins, and alkaloids), and active components (terpenoids, flavonoids, glycosides, and alkaloids) for the treatment of PH. Predominant models include monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in vivo and hypoxia-induced in vitro models using pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMCs). Mechanistic studies indicate that TCM target multiple signaling pathways, including NF-κB to alleviate inflammation, PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling to mitigate oxidative stress, modulation of K+/Ca2+ channels to attenuate pulmonary vascular remodeling, the HIF-2α-Arg-NO signaling pathway to protect endothelial function, inhibition of the TGF-β1/Smad pathway to suppress endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and regulation of JAK2-STAT3 and p53-p21 pathways to inhibit abnormal proliferation, migration, apoptosis resistance, and phenotypic transformation. CONCLUSION: TCM, including formulas, extracts, and components exhibit significant therapeutic potential for PH, positioning TCM as a promising complementary strategy for managing this disease.

References

1. 1.Wang, R., Wang, Z., Weng, Y., & Zhang, S. (2026). Insight of traditional Chinese medicine in treating pulmonary hypertension: Achievements from 2021 to 2025. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 121545. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2026.121545