Traditional Chinese Medicine Formulas for the Treatment of Sepsis-Induced Acute Lung Injury: A Review

Sepsis, a severe infectious systemic syndrome with high morbidity and mortality, is pathologically characterized by multi-organ dysfunction, with pulmonary involvement predominating as acute lung injury (ALI) or its severe progression to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Contemporary therapeutic strategies exhibit limited efficacy, while Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)-grounded in millennia of clinical empiricism demonstrates unique pharmacological advantages through multi-component and multi-target regulation. The mechanism underlying sepsis-induced ALI centers on dysregulated inflammatory response, redox imbalance, and coagulopathy. This review systematically evaluates the effectiveness, mechanism, and clinical research progress of eight TCM formulas in the treatment of sepsis and ALI. Accumulating fundamental research and clinical trials demonstrate the potential of these TCM formulas in treating sepsis-related ALI. The challenges and opportunities of TCM in treating including but not limited to sepsis-related ALI were emphasized. This review bridge traditional therapeutic wisdom with modern pathogenesis understanding, offering novel combinatorial strategies for sepsis-induced ALI management.