Inflammation is a defensive response of living tissues to damaging agents, which exists in two forms, acute inflammation and chronic inflammation, and chronic inflammation is closely related to arthritis. Currently, the commonly prescribed anti-inflammatory medications are greatly limited by high incidence of gastrointestinal erosions in the clinical applications. Rhein, a bioactive constituent of anthraquinone, exhibits excellent anti-inflammatory activities and therapeutic effects on arthritis with less gastrointestinal damages. Although there are numbers of studies on anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of rhein in the last few decades, to the best of our knowledge, only a few review articles pay attention to the interactive relationships of rhein on multiple inflammatory signaling pathways and cellular processes from a comprehensive perspective. Herein, we summarized anti-inflammatory effects and mechanisms of rhein and its practical applications in the treatment of arthritis, thereby providing a reference for its basic researches and clinical applications.

炎症是活体组织对损伤因子的防御反应，有急性炎症和慢性炎症两种形式，其中慢性炎症与关节炎密切相关。目前常用的抗炎药物由于胃肠道糜烂发生率高，在临床应用上受到很大限制。大黄酸是蒽醌的生物活性成分，具有优异的抗炎活性和对关节炎的治疗作用，且胃肠道损伤较小。尽管近几十年来关于大黄酸抗炎作用和机制的研究很多，但据我们所知，只有少数综述文章关注大黄酸在多种炎症信号通路和细胞过程中的相互作用关系。全面的视角。本文综述了大黄酸的抗炎作用、机制及其在治疗关节炎中的实际应用，为其基础研究和临床应用提供参考。