Engineered delivery of Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics for diabetic wound healing: a focus on NF-κB cascade modulation
- 1Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
- 2Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, China
- 3Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
Abstract
Diabetic wounds are chronic, difficult-to-heal injuries of the skin and soft tissues in people with diabetes. Their impaired healing involves metabolic disturbances, oxidative stress, vascular and neural injury, immune dysregulation, and dysfunction of reparative cells. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) links metabolic stress, immune responses, and tissue repair. Its persistent pathological activation can maintain wound inflammation and impede the transition to the reparative phase, representing a key mechanism underlying impaired healing in diabetic wounds. Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics can modulate upstream NF-κB stimuli, the core cascade, and downstream inflammatory output, but their local application is limited by poor dispersibility or chemical stability, washout by wound exudate, and tissue barriers. Engineered delivery can improve the dispersibility or formulation stability of these therapeutics and modulate their in vitro release. A small number of studies have further evaluated local delivery processes such as cellular uptake, but direct assessment of local exposure within the wound remains limited. This review examines how engineered delivery addresses delivery barriers and alters the local application of Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics in diabetic wounds, while using the depth of NF-κB-related evidence as an important dimension for evaluating the reported biological effects. Existing studies show that the reparative effects of engineered formulations are often accompanied by attenuation of upstream NF-κB stimuli or reduced downstream inflammatory output, whereas only a few studies have further detected reduced phosphorylation of IκBα or p65. However, a complete causal evidence chain linking material properties, local exposure, the core IκB kinase (IKK)–IκBα–p65 cascade, and wound-healing outcomes has not yet been established. Future studies should align local delivery processes with the temporal and cellular distribution of aberrant NF-κB activation and strengthen the evaluation of therapeutic attribution, critical quality attributes, and biocompatibility. The goal of engineered delivery of Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics is not to suppress NF-κB continuously, but to limit its persistent pathological activation and promote the transition of wounds from the inflammatory phase to the tissue repair phase.
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BibTeX
@article{chen2026engineered,
title = {{Engineered delivery of Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics for diabetic wound healing: a focus on NF-κB cascade modulation}},
author = {Boxun Chen and Qing Wang and Jialun Zhang and Xiaoshan Li and Ning Wang and Meiling Zou and Zhichao Huang and Jiayue Feng and Guangheng Zhang and Shang Ju},
journal = {Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fbioe.2026.1977317},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2026.1977317},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Engineered delivery of Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics for diabetic wound healing: a focus on NF-κB cascade modulation
AU - Boxun Chen
AU - Qing Wang
AU - Jialun Zhang
AU - Xiaoshan Li
AU - Ning Wang
AU - Meiling Zou
AU - Zhichao Huang
AU - Jiayue Feng
AU - Guangheng Zhang
AU - Shang Ju
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
DO - 10.3389/fbioe.2026.1977317
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2026.1977317
AB - Diabetic wounds are chronic, difficult-to-heal injuries of the skin and soft tissues in people with diabetes. Their impaired healing involves metabolic disturbances, oxidative stress, vascular and neural injury, immune dysregulation, and dysfunction of reparative cells. Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) links metabolic stress, immune responses, and tissue repair. Its persistent pathological activation can maintain wound inflammation and impede the transition to the reparative phase, representing a key mechanism underlying impaired healing in diabetic wounds. Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics can modulate upstream NF-κB stimuli, the core cascade, and downstream inflammatory output, but their local application is limited by poor dispersibility or chemical stability, washout by wound exudate, and tissue barriers. Engineered delivery can improve the dispersibility or formulation stability of these therapeutics and modulate their in vitro release. A small number of studies have further evaluated local delivery processes such as cellular uptake, but direct assessment of local exposure within the wound remains limited. This review examines how engineered delivery addresses delivery barriers and alters the local application of Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics in diabetic wounds, while using the depth of NF-κB-related evidence as an important dimension for evaluating the reported biological effects. Existing studies show that the reparative effects of engineered formulations are often accompanied by attenuation of upstream NF-κB stimuli or reduced downstream inflammatory output, whereas only a few studies have further detected reduced phosphorylation of IκBα or p65. However, a complete causal evidence chain linking material properties, local exposure, the core IκB kinase (IKK)–IκBα–p65 cascade, and wound-healing outcomes has not yet been established. Future studies should align local delivery processes with the temporal and cellular distribution of aberrant NF-κB activation and strengthen the evaluation of therapeutic attribution, critical quality attributes, and biocompatibility. The goal of engineered delivery of Chinese herbal medicine-derived therapeutics is not to suppress NF-κB continuously, but to limit its persistent pathological activation and promote the transition of wounds from the inflammatory phase to the tissue repair phase.
SN - 2296-4185
ER -