Research on the Regulation of RNA by Traditional Chinese Medicine to Alleviate Chemotherapy Side Effects

Abstract

Chemotherapy is the main treatment for tumors; however, its side effects, like bone marrow suppression, gastrointestinal reactions, and neurotoxicity, can seriously impact the patient's quality of life and the treatment process. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which possesses the advantages of multi-component, multi-target, and overall regulation, appears quite promising in relieving the side effects brought about by chemotherapy.However, the molecular operating mechanism of it has not been fully figured out yet.In recent years, non-coding RNAs (including miRNAs, lncRNAs, and circRNAs) have been confirmed to play a key regulatory role in cell proliferation, apoptosis and damage repair and other aspects, thus providing a new perspective for us to understand the mechanism of chemotherapy-related adverse reactions. This article systematically reviews the research progress of how TCM active ingredients (such as ginsenosides, astragaloside IV and curcumin and the like) reduce chemotherapy side effects by regulating specific RNA molecules and regulating related signaling pathways, including protecting bone marrow hematopoiesis, reducing gastrointestinal toxicity and relieving neurotoxicity and the like. This article further delves into the challenges currently encountered in this domain and also envisions the future direction of precise TCM intervention combined with technologies like high-throughput sequencing and gene editing, with the purpose of offering a theoretical basis for integrating traditional Chinese and Western medicine in cancer supportive care.