Traditional application, Chemical composition, Pharmacological effects, Quality control and Clinical application of Corydalis yanhusuo W. T. Wang dried Rhizome.

In China, Corydalis yanhusuo W.T. Wang is listed as an important ethnic medicine for promoting blood circulation and relieving pain. Because of its significant analgesic and anti-inflammatory pharmacological properties, it is widely used in pain treatment and traditional Chinese medicine compound in the world. Its clinical efficacy is definite, pharmacological activity is clear, and it is widely used in multi-ethnic medical practice in China. The research progress of traditional application, chemical composition, pharmacological effect and quality control of CY were systematically elucidated, which provided solid scientific support for further development and utilization, quality improvement and industrialization development of CY. This study comprehensively reviewed classical texts such as "Chinese Materia Medica" and "China Ethnic Medicine Dictionary", and searched PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, and Wanfang databases using keywords including "Yanhusuo", "traditional research", "chemical constituents", "pharmacological effects", and "quality control". It systematically summarized the research progress on its ethnic medicine records, material basis, mechanism of action, and quality control, providing a scientific basis for the in-depth development and clinical application of Yanhusuo. Alkaloids such as tetrahydropalmatine and dehydrocorydaline are the core active components, which are the material basis for their analgesic, anti-inflammatory and sedative effects. Traditionally, it is used to treat pain syndromes of qi stagnation and blood stasis. Modern research has confirmed that it has the characteristics of multi-target and multi-pathway regulation, and vinegar processing can significantly enhance its analgesic effect. Quality control is mostly based on high performance liquid chromatography as the main technical means. Current evidence supports CY as an ethnomedicinal herb with notable analgesic potential. Future studies should prioritize disease-specific validation in dysmenorrhea and angina pectoris; mechanistic confirmation of key pathways, including PI3K/Akt-eNOS/NO, MAPK-NF-κB-iNOS, NLRP3-IL-1β, cAMP/cGMP, and SUCNR1 signaling; and an integrated quality-control system using DNA markers, multi-component fingerprints, Q-markers, and bioactivity assays to clarify the relationship between chemical variation and therapeutic efficacy.