Demystifying anti-inflammatory therapeutic strategies against pancreatitis and concomitant diseases: a 2025 perspective

Pancreatitis is a complex, progressive inflammatory disorder that often transitions from acute to chronic stages, leading to significant comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and bone disorders. These complications complicate treatment strategies, highlighting the need for more targeted approaches. Historically, therapeutic strategies have focused on mechanisms addressing immune dysregulation, oxidative stress, and tissue damage. However, recent advancements have focused on anti-inflammatory mechanisms as primary therapeutic targets for pancreatitis and its associated conditions, as anti-inflammatory treatments help in alleviating chronic inflammation, minimizing tissue damage, and inhibiting disease progression, thereby enhancing recovery and overall patient well-being. This review highlights the most recent advancements in anti-inflammatory therapies for pancreatitis and associated diseases. We discuss how nanotechnology, particularly synthetic and biomimetic nanocarrier-based systems, has emerged as a promising approach to enhance the targeted delivery of anti-inflammatory agents, improving bioavailability and reducing systemic side effects. Importantly, we highlight the potential of gas-based therapies, traditional Chinese medicines, gene therapy, specialty food, living probiotics, exosomes, and even multitargeted approaches to enhance the therapeutic efficacy for pancreatitis and concomitant diseases. Despite these advancements, challenges such as treatment stability, immune response modulation, and scalability have been discussed. Moreover, perspective therapies such as single cell therapy and early diagnosis as treatments have been discussed. This review underscores the need for personalized, multimodal strategies to improve outcomes in pancreatitis management.