Traditional Chinese Medicines Regulate Inflammation Through Signals Mediated by cAMP-phosphodiesterases

Inflammation is a defense mechanism that protects human body from harmful stimuli. However, uncontrolled inflammation can lead to damage to tissues locally or systemically. Studies, including ours, have shown that traditional Chinese medicines (TCM) exert significant anti-inflammatory effects through the inhibition of cAMP-PDEs activity. We aimed to provide an overview of cAMP-mediated modulatory effects of cAMP-PDEs-selective TCM on key proteins of inflammatory signaling pathways, mainly involving inhibition of NF-kappa B, MAPKs (p38, ERK, or JNK), TLR, MyD88, and STAT3, and activation of Nrf2, HO-1, AMPK, and PPAR gamma. Among them, inhibition of NF-kappa B is the most important way to play anti-inflammatory roles for all cAMP-PDEs-selective TCM.