Traditional Chinese medicine to improve immune imbalance of asthma: focus on the adjustment of gut microbiota

Front Microbiol. 2024 Oct 1:15:1409128. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1409128. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Asthma, being the prevailing respiratory ailment globally, remains enigmatic in terms of its pathogenesis. In recent times, the advancement of traditional Chinese medicine pertaining to the intestinal microbiota has yielded a plethora of investigations, which have substantiated the potential of traditional Chinese medicine in disease prevention and treatment through modulation of the intestinal microbiota. Both animal models and clinical trials have unequivocally demonstrated the indispensable role of the intestinal microbiota in the pathogenesis of asthma. This article presents a summary of the therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicine in the context of regulating gut microbiota and its metabolites, thereby achieving immune regulation and inhibiting airway inflammation associated with asthma. It elucidates the mechanism by which traditional Chinese medicine modulates the gut microbiota to enhance asthma management, offering a scientific foundation for the utilization of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of asthma.

Keywords: Chinese herbal medicine formula; asthma; effective components of traditional Chinese medicine; lipopolysaccharide; short-chain fatty acids.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This research is funded by the scientific research project of the ‘Youth Innovation Team Plan’ team of colleges and universities in Shandong Province (2022KJ257) and Shandong University of Chinese Medicine Lung Hidden Elephant Theory Research Young Scientific Research and Innovation Team (22202126).