Yu Xiao-Yong, Sun Qian, Zhang Ya-Mei, Zou Liang, Zhao Ying-Yong
Department of Nephrology, Shaanxi Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Xi'an, China.
Key Disciplines of Clinical Pharmacy, Clinical Genetics Laboratory, Affiliated Hospital and Clinical Medical College of Chengdu University, Chengdu, China.
Front Pharmacol. 2022 Mar 24;13:860588. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.860588. eCollection 2022.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) was a major public health problem worldwide. Renal fibrosis, especially tubulointerstitial fibrosis, is final manifestation of CKD. Many studies have demonstrated that TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway plays a crucial role in renal fibrosis. Therefore, targeted inhibition of TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway can be used as a potential therapeutic measure for tubulointerstitial fibrosis. At present, a variety of targeting TGF-β1 and its downstream Smad proteins have attracted attention. Natural products used as potential therapeutic strategies for tubulointerstitial fibrosis have the characteristics of acting on multiple targets by multiple components and few side effects. With the continuous research and technique development, more and more molecular mechanisms of natural products have been revealed, and there are many natural products that inhibited tubulointerstitial fibrosis TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. This review summarized the role of TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway in tubulointerstitial fibrosis and natural products against tubulointerstitial fibrosis by targeting TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. Additionally, many challenges and opportunities are presented for inhibiting renal fibrosis in the future.
慢性肾脏病（CKD）是全球范围内的一个主要公共卫生问题。肾纤维化，尤其是肾小管间质纤维化，是CKD的最终表现形式。许多研究表明，转化生长因子-β（TGF-β）/Smad信号通路在肾纤维化中起关键作用。因此，靶向抑制TGF-β/Smad信号通路可作为治疗肾小管间质纤维化的一种潜在措施。目前，多种靶向TGF-β1及其下游Smad蛋白的方法已受到关注。用作肾小管间质纤维化潜在治疗策略的天然产物具有多成分作用于多个靶点且副作用少的特点。随着研究的不断深入和技术的发展，越来越多天然产物的分子机制被揭示出来，并且有许多天然产物可通过抑制TGF-β/Smad信号通路来减轻肾小管间质纤维化。本文综述了TGF-β/Smad信号通路在肾小管间质纤维化中的作用以及通过靶向TGF-β/Smad信号通路抗肾小管间质纤维化的天然产物。此外，还提出了未来抑制肾纤维化面临的诸多挑战与机遇。
