Potential Signaling Pathways Involved in the Clinical Application of Oxymatrine

Oxymatrine, an alkaloid component extracted from the roots of Sophora species, has been shown to have antiinflammatory, antifibrosis, and antitumor effects and the ability to protect against myocardial damage, etc. The potential signaling pathways involved in the clinical application of oxymatrine might include the TGF-β/Smad, Toll-like Receptor 4/nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells, toll-like receptor9/TRAF6, Janus kinase/signal transduction and activator of transcription, phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase/Akt, delta-opioid receptor-arrestinl-Bcl-2, CD40, epidermal growth factor receptor, nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2/heme oxygenase-1 signaling pathways, and dimethylarginine dimethylaminohydrolase/asymmetric dimethylarginine metabolism pathway. In this review, we summarize the recent investigations of the signaling pathways related to oxymatrine to provide clues and references for further studies on its clinical application. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.