Traditional Chinese Medicine compound formula and effective ingredients for treating intervertebral disc degeneration: a multi-targeted and holistic regulation concept

• TCM compounds and active ingredients exert anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting inflammatory cytokine release and pathway activation, though specific immune cell-mediated mechanisms remain unclear. • TCM demonstrates multi-target antioxidative stress capabilities, enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity, stabilizing mitochondrial function, and reducing reactive oxygen species accumulation. • TCM regulates extracellular matrix homeostasis by modulating synthesis and degradative enzyme activity, thereby alleviating disc structural disruption. • TCM's holistic regulation can simultaneously target multiple programmed cell death pathways (apoptosis, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, autophagy) to protect disc cells and delay degeneration.