Sarcopenia (SP) is a progressive skeletal muscle disease associated with aging, the main clinical features of which are progressive, generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass, reduced muscle strength, and declining physical function. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/serine-threonine kinase (Akt)/mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway is a key pathway regulating biological processes such as cell growth, survival, and metabolism. Its abnormal activation or inactivation may cause muscle atrophy and functional decline, playing an important role in the formation and development of SP. Studies have shown that various traditional Chinese medicine monomers and traditional Chinese medicine compound prescriptions can alleviate muscle atrophy and functional decline by improving SP-related inflammatory responses, apoptosis and autophagy, protein homeostasis, mitochondrial function, oxidative stress, and glucose metabolism. Based on the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, this article summarizes and analyzes the research progress of traditional Chinese medicine intervention in the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway for the treatment of SP, aiming to provide new ideas for the treatment of SP with traditional Chinese medicine.

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