芍药科仅包含芍药属，被认为是开花植物的主要类群。已经描述了芍药科草药的几种传统和药理学应用。本文旨在从作用机制和信号通路等方面探讨芍药属中最常见药材的药理活性，为进一步深入研究芍药药用资源提供思路。“芍药科”关键词1995年1月1日至2024年5月15日期间通过PubMed和Scopus数据库进行了检索。仅提取与药理学、药剂学、毒理学相关的论文。随后讨论了芍药植物可能的药理活性及其作用机制和信号通路。在我们的探索之后，只有 15 种芍药草药的药理应用得到了充分的评估。芍药、牡丹和牡丹是最常见的芍药植物，在现代药理学研究中引起了越来越多的关注。芍药具有多种药理用途，如抗炎、抗过敏、抗癌、抗菌、心血管保护、美容护肤、自由基清除、保肝抗溃疡、抗糖尿病、肌肉骨骼和神经保护等作用。在危重医疗条件下用作替代疗法。在芍药草药的应用中，抗炎和抗氧化活性至关重要，因为大多数其他药理作用都归因于它们。换句话说，核因子（NF）-κB和核因子红细胞2相关因子2（Nrf2）可以被认为是参与芍药药理活性的最重要的信号通路。如有任何疑问，请发送电子邮件至 epub@benthamscience.net。

The Paeoniaceae family contains only the Paeonia genus and is considered the major group of flowering plants. Several traditional and pharmacological applications of Paeoniaceae herbs have been described. The current paper aimed to determine the pharmacological activities of the most prevalent herbs from the genus Paeonia by focusing on the underlying mechanism of action and signaling pathways to provide insight for further in-depth research on the medicinal resources of Paeonia.The "Paeoniaceae" keyword was searched from 1st January 1995 to 15th May 2024 through the PubMed and Scopus databases. Only papers related to pharmacology, pharmaceutics, and toxicology were extracted. The possible pharmacological activity of the Paeonia plants underlying their mechanism of action and signaling pathways was subsequently discussed.Following our venture, only 15 Paeonia herbs were adequately evaluated for their pharmacological applications. Paeonia lactiflora Pall., Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews, and Paeonia emodi Royle are among the most prevalent Paeonia plants that have attracted increased amounts of attention in modern pharmacological studies. Paeonia herbs possess various pharmacological applications, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anticancer, antimicrobial, cardiovascular protective, cosmetic and skincare, radical scavenging, hepatoprotective and anti-ulcerative, anti-diabetic, musculoskeletal, and neuroprotective effects, and can be used as alternative therapies under critical medical conditions.Among the applications of Paeonia herbs, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities are critical, as most of the other pharmacological effects are attributed to them. In other words, nuclear factor (NF)-κB and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) can be considered the most important signaling pathways involved in the pharmacological activity of Paeonia herbs.Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.