Hypoxia contributes to the pathophysiology of numerous acute and chronic diseases. Traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have long been used to alleviate hypoxic injury, yet a systematic characterization of anti-hypoxic TCMs is lacking. A systematic database search was performed to identify eligible studies on TCMs with reported anti-hypoxic activity. A total of 333 articles were categorized by intervention type: single-herb medicines (including Tibetan medicines), classical formulas, proprietary Chinese medicines, and self-designed formulas. Single-herb medicines and their extracts constituted the largest category (187 articles), of which 49 focused on Tibetan medicines. Classical formulas accounted for 58 articles, and proprietary or self-designed formulas for 88 articles. Among single herbs, tonifying and nourishing herbs predominated (67 articles), followed by heat-clearing (14) and blood-activating (15) herbs. Tibetan medicine research centered primarily on Rhodiola and Cordyceps . Across anti-hypoxic proprietary and original formulas, the most frequently occurring single herbs were Astragalus , Ginseng , Lycium , and Rhodiola . Current anti-hypoxic TCM research is heavily dominated by tonifying single herbs, with Astragalus and Rhodiola being the most prominent. Tibetan herbs other than Rhodiola remain underexplored. Future studies should prioritize standardized extracts, mechanistic investigations, and rigorous clinical validation of both single agents and synergistic formulas.
Liu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.