The regulatory mechanisms of active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine for inflammation in Parkinson disease: A review

Parkinson disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder worldwide, affecting countless patients. Inflammation is a major pathogenic factor in PD. The regulation of inflammation involves multiple processes, including glial cell activation, oxidative stress responses, gut–brain axis signaling, and associated molecular pathways. In recent years, some progress has been made in the study of anti-inflammatory therapies for PD; however, their therapeutic efficacy remains limited. Thus, exploring alternative pharmacological interventions may represent a promising direction for managing inflammation in PD. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been found to exert therapeutic effects on PD-related inflammation, suggesting that further development of TCM could be beneficial. Therefore, focusing on the discovery and development of TCM-based treatments is worth pursuing. This review summarizes the major active components that show efficacy against PD inflammation and outlines their underlying mechanisms, with the aim of providing new perspectives for identifying alternative therapeutic strategies.