Research progress of natural product-based nanomaterials for the treatment of inflammation-related diseases

Natural product-based nanomedicine resulting from the combination of natural products with nanotechnology has been extensively investigated to improve the therapeutic index and safety profile of NPs in massive inflammatory diseases, including bone-, intestine-, neuron-, and ocular-related diseases. [Display omitted] •Natural product-based nanomedicine is characterized by diverse classification and abundant function.•Natural product-based nanomedicine showed exceptional therapeutic efficacy in bone-, intestine-, neuron- and ocular-related inflammatory diseases.•Challenges in the wide clinical application of natural product-based nanomedicine remain, and further exploration is urgently needed. Inflammatory diseases present with dysregulated inflammatory reactions and oxidative stress, resulting in heavy health-associated economic burden to society. Current mainstream therapies, including traditional therapies such as steroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and immunosuppressants, as well as novel biological strategies such as cytokine and intracellular signal inhibitors, cannot cure inflammatory diseases and always cause a series of unexpected adverse effects. Natural products (NPs), which are complex chemical molecules with abundant biological activities derived from microorganisms and plants, have demonstrated great potential for treating inflammatory diseases with several unresolved drawbacks. Increasing studies have indicated that NP-based nanomedicine resulting from the combination of NPs and nanotechnology may open a brand-new vista for the therapy of inflammatory diseases. In the present review, we summarize the classification of NP-based nanomedicine and its potential therapeutic effects in various inflammatory diseases, as well as further elucidate the challenges in the wide clinical application of NP-based nanomedicine to promote a comprehensive understanding and development of inflammatory disease therapy by NP-based nanomedicine.