Resveratrol extracted from Chinese herbal medicines: A novel therapeutic strategy for lung diseases

Lung diseases and their related complications represent a critical source of morbidity and mortality globally and have become a research focus in recent years. There are plenty of hazards that threaten the health of lung by exposure to external environmental stimuli, such as dust, cigarette smoke, PM2.5, air pollution and pathogen infection. These risks lead to the impairment of lung function and subsequent lung diseases including pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Compared with antibiotics and corticosteroids therapies, traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions are more effective with fewer side effects. A considerable variety of bioactive ingredients have been extracted and identified from Chinese herbal medicines and are used for the treatment of different lung diseases, including resveratrol. Increasing studies have reported promising therapeutic effects of resveratrol against lung diseases by inhibiting oxidative stress, inflammation, aging, fibrosis and cancer both in vitro and in vivo. In this review, the recent progress in the studies of lung-protective effects and underlying mechanisms of resveratrol and also highlight the potency of resveratrol and traditional Chinese prescriptions containing resveratrol as promising therapeutic options were summarized for the treatment of lung and respiratory diseases.