2023, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (31): 5064-5070

Prevention and treatment of bone-related diseases by regulating macrophages with Chinese medicine

Yang Chaoqiang1, Zhang Hulin2, Wang Xiaomin2, Wang Liang1, Wang Yican1   

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Macrophages play a key role in regulating many physiological and pathological processes in humans and have been shown to be a key factor affecting the development of bone-related diseases. In recent years, studies have found that the prevention and treatment of bone-related diseases by regulating macrophages with traditional Chinese medicine have obvious advantages and considerable curative effects with its multi-target, multi-mechanism, multi-level, simple, convenient, inexpensive, effective, and small side effects.
OBJECTIVE: To review the latest research results of macrophages in orthopedic diseases, the relationship between macrophages and bone-related diseases, and the research progress of Chinese medicine intervention in macrophages to prevent and treat bone-related diseases.
METHODS: PubMed and CNKI databases were searched by the first author for relevant articles published from January 2010 to September 2022 with the keywords of “macrophage, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc, traditional Chinese medicine”. A preliminary screening was conducted by reading the title and abstract, and the literature unrelated to the topic of the article was excluded. Finally, 61 articles were included for review analysis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: (1) Macrophages can secrete pro-inflammatory cytokines and are related to the activation of bone resorption. Targeted activation of macrophages may help inhibit or slow down the progression of bone loss in patients with osteoporosis. (2) Macrophages are considered important joint synovial inflammatory cells. The imbalance between pro-inflammatory macrophages and anti-inflammatory macrophages may lead to chronic low-grade inflammation, which in turn induces osteoarthritis development. (3) Macrophages may play a direct role in phagocytosis or through neuro-immune mechanisms to coordinate the regulation of intervertebral disc metabolism; its functional imbalance will lead to more inflammatory factor chemotaxis and aggregation, leading to the degradation of the extracellular matrix of the intervertebral disc, thereby aggravating disc degeneration. (4) Chinese medicine’s intervention of macrophages in the prevention and treatment of bone-related diseases has a remarkable effect and a promising prospect.

Key words: macrophage, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, intervertebral disc degeneration, traditional Chinese medicine