Carbon dots derived from traditional Chinese medicines: a novel therapeutic strategy for ocular diseases

Carbon dots (CDs) represent a novel category of zero-dimensional carbon-based nanomaterials featuring favorable biosafety in vitro and in acute animal studies. They also exhibit distinctive optical properties and diverse pharmacological activities. Synthesized via eco-friendly green routes using traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) and their extracts, TCM-derived carbon dots (TCM-CDs) display distinct properties compared to conventional nanocarriers. Benefiting from their inherent nanostructures, abundant surface functional groups, and nanozyme-like activity, TCM-CDs can deliver intrinsic therapeutic effects without loading exogenous drugs or relying on residual herbal ingredients. They possess multiple bioactivities, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and neuroprotective effects, which make them potential non-invasive therapeutic candidates for refractory ocular disorders. A growing body of studies has validated the promising therapeutic efficacy of TCM-CDs in animal models against autoimmune uveitis, retinal lesions, and optic nerve injuries, highlighting their encouraging preclinical findings that warrant further investigation toward clinical translation. Focusing on the intrinsic therapeutic capacity of TCM-CDs, this review systematically summarizes their core functional mechanisms and research progress in ocular disease intervention, discusses prevailing academic controversies and unresolved research bottlenecks in this field, and proposes prospective developmental directions. This work intends to offer comprehensive theoretical evidence and guidance directions for subsequent mechanistic investigations and clinical translation of TCM-CDs in ophthalmic research.