Neuropathy is defined as the damage to the peripheral or central nervous system accompanied by pain, numbness, or muscle weakness, which can be due to congenital diseases or environmental factors such as diabetes, trauma, or viral infections. As current treatments are not sufficiently able to control the disease, studies focusing on the identification and discovery of new therapeutic agents are necessary. Natural products have been used for a long time for the management of different neurological problems including neuropathies. The aim of the present study is to review the current clinical data on the beneficial effects of medicinal plants in neuropathy. Electronic databases including PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Library were searched with the keywords ‘neuropathy’ in the title/abstract and ‘plant’ or ‘extract’ or ‘herb’ in the whole text from inception until August 2017. From a total of 3679 papers, 22 studies were finally included. Medicinal plants were evaluated clinically in several types of neuropathy, including diabetic neuropathy, chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy, carpal tunnel syndrome, and HIV-associated neuropathy. Some studies reported the improvement in pain, nerve function, nerve conduction velocity, and quality of life. Cannabis sativa (hemp), Linum usitatissimum (linseed oil), capsaicin, and a polyherbal Japanese formulation called Goshajinkigan had the most evidence regarding their clinical efficacy. Other investigated herbal medicines in neuropathy, such as Matricaria chamomilla (chamomile), Curcuma longa (turmeric), and Citrullus colocynthis (colocynth), had only one clinical trial. Thus, future studies are necessary to confirm the safety and efficacy of such natural medicines as a complementary or alternative treatment for neuropathy.

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神经病的植物源性药物：临床证据的综合评价

神经病被定义为周围或中枢神经系统的损伤，伴有疼痛、麻木或肌肉无力，这可能是由先天性疾病或环境因素（如糖尿病、创伤或病毒感染）引起的。由于目前的治疗方法不足以控制该疾病，因此有必要进行专注于识别和发现新治疗药物的研究。长期以来，天然产品一直用于治疗不同的神经问题，包括神经病。本研究的目的是回顾目前关于药用植物对神经病变有益作用的临床数据。电子数据库包括 PubMed、Scopus、从开始到 2017 年 8 月，用标题/摘要中的关键字“神经病”和全文中的“植物”或“提取物”或“草药”进行搜索。在总共 3679 篇论文中，最终纳入了 22 项研究. 药用植物在几种类型的神经病变中进行了临床评估，包括糖尿病性神经病变、化疗引起的周围神经病变、腕管综合征和 HIV 相关的神经病变。一些研究报告了疼痛、神经功能、神经传导速度和生活质量的改善。大麻（麻），亚麻（亚麻籽油）、辣椒素和一种名为 Goshajinkigan 的多草日本配方在临床疗效方面的证据最多。其他研究过的用于神经病变的草药，例如洋甘菊（洋甘菊），姜黄（姜黄），和瓜蒌(colocynth)，只有一项临床试验。因此，未来的研究对于确认此类天然药物作为神经病的补充或替代治疗的安全性和有效性是必要的。