Swine Diseases / Cattle Diseases / Virus Diseases · Journal article

The roles and mechanisms of natural compounds in preventing and treating viral reproductive disorders in major economic livestock.

Virulence · August 31, 2026

Hypothesis-Generating Why this matters to you Expert discussion

Raises a question worth testing. It does not answer one.

AI Summary

This is a narrative review that maps natural compounds (plant secondary metabolites, polysaccharides, and traditional Chinese medicine formulas) against 12 viruses causing reproductive disorders in pigs, cattle, and sheep, identifying common mechanistic targets in host signaling pathways. The work is mechanistic and exploratory, proposing multi-target regulatory strategies rather than reporting efficacy data, and serves to frame future drug development rather than to establish clinical evidence.

What was studied

Narrative review article. Literature on natural compounds tested against viruses causing reproductive disorders in pigs, cattle, and sheep. Intervention: Natural compounds (plant secondary metabolites, polysaccharides, traditional Chinese medicine formulas) targeting host signaling pathways (NF-κB, MAPK, apoptosis, autophagy).

Key findings

297 independent studies were included in the review Natural compounds targeted four conserved host signaling networks: NF-κB (TLR4, p65, IRF3, IκBα, ERK1/2), MAPK (p38 MAPK, JNK), apoptosis-related factors (Caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax), and autophagy-related factors (AKT, p62) Viral pathogens reviewed include ASFV, BVDV, PCV2, CSFV, PRRSV, and FMDV causing major economic losses globally

Safety

Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.

Who this may help

This review identifies putative mechanistic targets for natural compound development but does not establish clinical efficacy or recommend specific interventions for practising veterinarians. It is intended to guide future drug screening and development rather than to inform immediate practice.

Plain-language summary

This is a narrative review synthesizing mechanistic evidence from 297 studies on natural compounds against livestock viral reproductive disorders; it maps proposed pathways rather than testing a clinical hypothesis and does not report primary outcome data.

Study design

As stated by the source record.

MethodsNarrative review article

PopulationLiterature on natural compounds tested against viruses causing reproductive disorders in pigs, cattle, and sheep

InterventionNatural compounds (plant secondary metabolites, polysaccharides, traditional Chinese medicine formulas) targeting host signaling pathways (NF-κB, MAPK, apoptosis, autophagy)

Reported figures

Quoted from the source exactly as published.

Number of studies included297

Economic loss per animal (BVDV)$687.80

Annual PCV2 economic lossexceeding 2 billion US dollars

Annual PRRSV losses in USA (2016–2020)approximately $1.2 billion

Clinical bottom line

Caveats

No primary outcome efficacy data, effect sizes, or clinical trial results reported; mechanistic pathways described without quantified in vivo or clinical validation
Review does not report assessment of study quality, risk of bias, or consistency of evidence across the 297 included studies
Specific natural compounds and their individual efficacy are not detailed in the provided text excerpt
Geographic scope of included studies, funding sources, and potential publication bias not disclosed

Evidence assessment

Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.

Study design

limited

Review article synthesizing existing literature; no primary data collection or experimental design.

Directness

limited

Focuses on mechanistic pathways (NF-κB, MAPK, apoptosis, autophagy) in livestock models; clinical efficacy not directly assessed.

Consistency

insufficient

Source does not report consistency assessment or meta-analysis across included studies.

Risk of bias

insufficient

Review does not describe quality assessment or risk of bias evaluation of included studies.

Sample adequacy

insufficient

Broad synthesis of 297 studies; no aggregate sample size or power calculation reported.

Source abstract

Reproductive disorders from viral infections cause major economic losses in livestock. This review provides a comprehensive mapping of natural compounds (monomers, extracts, and traditional Chinese medicine formulas) against 12 key viruses causing reproductive disorders in pigs, cattle, and sheep. A total of 297 independent studies were included. The compounds targeted multiple nodes within four conserved host signaling networks: NF-κB (TLR4, p65, IRF3, IκBα, ERK1/2), MAPK (p38 MAPK, JNK), apoptosis-related factors (Caspase-3, Bcl-2, Bax), and autophagy-related factors (AKT, p62). By modulating these networks, this multi-target, on-demand regulatory strategy endows natural compounds with broad-spectrum regulatory effects on host responses and the ability to reduce drug resistance. These findings consequently provide a theoretical basis for developing a single natural product combination that is effective against multiple reproductive disorder viruses.

Follow from this

Taken from the source record, never inferred. Follow any of these and new work involving them reaches your briefing.

Swine DiseasesCattle DiseasesVirus DiseasesQiling SuSheep DiseasesJiang WuKai KangChongkai HuQinyao ShiHaien Chen