Background Voltage-gated sodium channels
(VGSCs) are essential for generating and propagating
action potentials in excitable cells. They are considered
to be promising potential targets for analgesics
acting on nociceptive neurons. However, the translation
of animal model analgesic data to humans makes
VGSCs-targeting analgesic drug development challenging.
Starting with human experience to find
analgesics can reduce such failures. Traditional Chinese
medicine (TCM), a traditional medical system,
has rich human experience of analgesics, which means
many Traditional Chinese Medicine Herbs (TCMH)
are worth exploring for analgesic drug development.
However, studies of the analgesic mechanisms of
TCMH need to be conducted at the cellular and
molecular level for a VGSC perspective.
Purpose In this review, we provide an overview of
the TCMH analgesics and molecules from TCMH,
that act on VGSCs, especially subtype Nav1.3, Nav1.7,
and Nav1.8, along with a brief discussion on pharmaceutical
potential for pain management. We also
provide references for Chinese medicine to study pain
relief mechanisms at the molecular level of sodium ion
channels.
Methods Using Web of Science, the PubMed, and
China National Knowledge Infrastructure databases,
we conducted a comprehensive search of literature and
data on TCMH and VGSCs published before October
2024.
Conclusion While Navl.3, Navl.7, Navl.8 and Navl.9
are involved in the development and maintenance of
pain, Navl.8 can be studied as a potential drug target.
The traditional Chinese medicine herbs involved
sodium ion channels are primarily categorized into
seven types, including 30 well-defined natural ingredients
and 33 TCMH extracts. Studying the interactions
between the components of TCMH is an
important prerequisite for further exploration of how
a specific analgesic TCM or TCM formula modulates
ion channels or whether it binds to specific sites on
these channels.