The Anti-Osteoarthritis Effect of Medicinal and Edible Homologous Bioactive Components and Chinese Medicinal and Health Food Varieties

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic progressive joint disease characterized by articular cartilage degeneration, subchondral bone remodeling, osteophyte formation, and synovitis. It is one of the most common disabling diseases in the middle-aged and elderly population. At present, clinical treatment is mainly based on relieving symptoms, and there is still a lack of interventions that can prevent or reverse the disease process. In recent years, bioactive components derived from medicine–food homology (MFH) and Medicinal Health Food (MHF) have received extensive attention in the prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis due to their high safety and multi-target effects. In this paper, bioactive components with anti-osteoarthritis effects in medicinal and edible homologous and medicinal health foods are systematically reviewed, including polyphenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, and polysaccharides. The progress of research into cartilage protection through the regulation of inflammatory signaling pathways, mitigation of oxidative stress, regulation of chondrocyte metabolism, and epigenetic modification is summarized, and the future research directions in this field are discussed.