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REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Renal Pharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1560567
This article is part of the Research Topic Reviews in Renal Pharmacology: 2024 View all 9 articles
Natural products in traditional Chinese medicine for renal fibrosis: A comprehensive review
Provisionally accepted
Qianqian Zhao 
Meihua Jin 
Qiang Zhao Zhimei Wang Chun Zhao Xiaocong Xue Xikai Qiao Peng Qu 
Donghe Han * Ran Tao *- Dalian University, Dalian, Liaoning Province, China
Renal fibrosis represents the terminal pathological manifestation of most chronic kidney diseases, driving progressive loss of renal function. Natural products have emerged as promising therapeutic agents for preventing and ameliorating renal fibrosis due to their multi-target efficacy and favorable safety profiles. In this review, we conducted a comprehensive literature search on PubMed using the keywords "natural product" and "renal fibrosis" from 2004 to 2025, identifying 704 relevant articles. We systematically categorize and discuss the biological effects of key natural products and formulations with antifibrotic potential, focusing on five major classes: glycosides, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, anthraquinones, and terpenoids. Representative compounds from each category are highlighted for their mechanisms of action, including modulation of oxidative stress, inflammation, autophagy, and fibrosis signaling pathways. This review aims to provide a theoretical foundation for the development of natural product-based therapies to combat renal fibrosis, offering insights into their therapeutic potential and future research directions. This review was supported by the Scientific Research Fund of Liaoning Provincial Education Department . Finally, we are grateful to reviewers for their constructive feedback during manuscript preparation.
Keywords: renal fibrosis, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, Natural Products, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Inflammation, Oxidative Stress, TGF-β
Received: 14 Jan 2025; Accepted: 28 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Jin, Zhao, Wang, Zhao, Xue, Qiao, Qu, Han and Tao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Donghe Han, Dalian University, Dalian, 130012, Liaoning Province, China
Ran Tao, Dalian University, Dalian, 130012, Liaoning Province, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.