Research progress on icariin, a traditional Chinese medicine extract, in the treatment of asthma

Abstract

Bronchial asthma is a common chronic airway disease, and long-term management of asthma is the focus and challenge of clinical treatment. Glucocorticoids are often used as the firstchoice for the treatment of asthma. However, the occurrence of hormone dependence, hormoneresistance, and local and systemic adverse reactions caused by hormone applicationalso creates problems for the treatment of asthma. Finding new, safe, and effective therapeuticdrugs is an important research direction at present. Icariin is an effective ingredientof the traditional Chinese medicine, Epimedium. It has various biological attributes such asanti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities, and immune regulation. It has high safety anda wide range of clinical applications. Icariin has the characteristics of multitargeted interventionin the treatment of asthma. Here, we review the specific mechanisms of icariin in treatingasthma, and icariin is considered a novel therapy in controlling asthma; however, the mechanismis still worth further investigation