| At present, the experimental studies on the microscopic mechanisms of osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) mainly include autophagy, apoptosis and necrosis at the cellular level, cells including osteoblasts, osteoclasts, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, etc., coding and non-coding RNA at the molecular level, gene polymorphisms, etc. While epigenetics is related to the above pathophysiological mechanisms through DNA methylation, gene polymorphisms, and more. At the molecular level, coding and non-coding RNA, gene polymorphisms, etc., while epigenetics has a close relationship with the above pathophysiological mechanisms of occurrence through DNA methylation, histone modifications and, more recently, RNA methylation pathways involved in the onset and development of ONFH. By collating and summarizing the relevant studies on the epigenetic aspects of Chinese medicine from the experimental aspect of treating ONFH, it has been found that the active ingredients of Chinese medicine and Chinese patent medicines can affect the progression of ONFH at the nucleotide and protein levels, playing a role in promoting osteogenesis or inhibiting lipogenic differentiation, down-regulating inflammatory factors and reducing the etiology of osteonecrosis, i.e. hormonal and alcohol damage to cells. There is still a lack of horizontal and vertical basic research, and even less research on clinical observation, so it is hoped that the systematic summary of this study will expand the clinical and experimental application and development of Chinese medicine in the field of osteonecrosis of the femoral head. |