There is a growing interest in using natural medicines to treat stroke as the leading cause of disability worldwide. Especially plant-derived natural medicines have multiple beneficial effects, including antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, antiapoptotic, suggesting their potential for stroke treatment. However, failure in clinical translation has created a substantial challenge for their use as stroke treatment. This review summarises the status of using natural medicinal formulations in stroke treatment, as well as the challenges. Although natural medicines have excellent prospects for ischaemic stroke treatment, several concerns need to be addressed for translating the success in animal research to humans. Specifically, there should be more considerations for investigating the precise mechanisms of natural medicines mediating the neuroprotective effects on stroke. Moreover, to further improve the prospects of clinical translation, further studies should be performed in aged animals rather than young adult animals.

使用天然药物治疗中风这一全球致残的主要原因越来越受到关注。特别是植物来源的天然药物具有多种有益作用，包括抗氧化、抗炎、抗细胞凋亡，表明它们具有治疗中风的潜力。然而，临床转化的失败给它们作为中风治疗的应用带来了巨大的挑战。本综述总结了在中风治疗中使用天然药物制剂的现状以及面临的挑战。尽管天然药物在治疗缺血性中风方面具有良好的前景，但要将动物研究的成功转化为人类，还需要解决几个问题。具体来说，在研究天然药物介导中风神经保护作用的确切机制时，应该有更多的考虑。此外，为了进一步改善临床转化的前景，应该在老年动物而不是年轻的成年动物中进行进一步的研究。