Improvement influenza vaccine immune responses with traditional Chinese medicine and its active ingredients

Abstract

The current influenza vaccines are unable to provide effective protection in many cases, like influenza viruses strain antigenic drift or shift, and the influenza continues to cause significant annual morbidity and mortality. Improving the immune response to influenza vaccination is an unmet need. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and its active ingredients are commonly known to have immunomodulatory properties. We therefore compared influenza vaccination alone or formulated with Astragali Radix (Huangqi in Chinese), and several representative ingredients of TCM, including lentinan (polysaccharide), panax notoginseng saponins (saponin), breviscapine (flavone), andrographolide (terpenoid), and a Chinese herbal compound (kangai) for their potential to enhance immune responses to influenza vaccine in mice. We found that all these TCM-adjuvants were able to increase hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibody titers, splenocyte proliferation, splenic T cell differentiation, bone marrow dendritic cell maturity, and both Th1 and Th2 cytokine secretion of influenza vaccine to varying degrees, and that had the characteristics of no excessive inflammatory responses and bidirectional regulation simultaneously. Taken together, our findings show that Astragali Radix exerts a more comprehensive effect on vaccine immunity, on both innate and adaptive immunity. The effects of lentinan and andrographolide on adaptive immunity were more significant, while the effects of breviscapine on innate immunity were stronger, and the other two TCM adjuvants were weaker. As the first report of a comprehensive evaluation of TCM adjuvants in influenza vaccines, the results suggest that TCM and their active ingredients are good candidates for enhancing the immune response of influenza vaccines, and that suitable TCMs can be selected based on the adjuvant requirements of different vaccines.

Harnessing the power of traditional Chinese medicine monomers and compound prescriptions to boost cancer immunotherapy

“…For instance, lentinan , a polysaccharide extracted from the shiitake mushroom, has garnered significant attention for its anti-cancer potential. It effectively hinders cancer cell growth and proliferation by activating the immune system and stimulating cytokine production, thus enhancing immune responses against cancer cells ( 112 , 134 ). Clinical trials evaluating lentinan have shown promising therapeutic capabilities, particularly in gastric cancer and colorectal cancer.…”

Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Chemical Components in Yinhua Pinggan Granule with High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Q-Exactive Mass Spectrometry

“…TCM, including YPG, has shown unique advantages in the treatment of influenza virus and related diseases [5][6][7], especially during the COVID-19 pandemic [8][9][10]. However, the chemical complexity of TCM not only leads to great challenges in elucidating the pharmacological mechanisms of TCM but also hinders the deciphering of the material basis and quality control [11].…”