The Adjuvant Effects on Vaccine and the Immunomodulatory Mechanisms of Polysaccharides From Traditional Chinese Medicine

Abstract

Vaccination is still the most successful strategy to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases by generating an adequate protective immune response. However, vaccines composed of antigens alone can only stimulate weak immunogenicity to prevent infection in many cases. Adjuvant can enhance the immunogenicity of the antigens. Therefore, adjuvant is urgently needed to strengthen the immune response of the vaccines. An ideal adjuvant should be safe, cheap, biodegradable and biologically inert. In addition to having a long shelf life, it can also promote cellular and humoral immune responses. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has many different ingredients, such as glycosides, polysaccharides, acids, terpenes, polyphenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, and so on. TCM polysaccharides are one of the main types of biologically active substances. They have a large range of pharmacological activities, especially immunomodulatory. TCM polysaccharides can regulate the immune system of animals by binding to multiple receptors on the surface of immune cells and activating different signal pathways. This review focuses on a comprehensive summary of the most recent developments in vaccine adjuvant effects of polysaccharides from many important TCM, such as Artemisia rupestris L., Cistanche deserticola, Pinus massoniana, Chuanminshen violaceum, Astragalus, Ganoderma lucidum, Codonopsis pilosula, Lycium barbarum, Angelica, Epimedium, and Achyranthes bidentata. Moreover, this review also introduces their immunomodulatory effects and the molecular mechanisms of action on animal bodies, which showed that TCM polysaccharides can activate macrophages, the signal pathway of T/B lymphocytes, regulate the signal pathway of natural killer cells, activate the complement system, and so on.

Achyranthes bidentata Polysaccharide Activates Nuclear Factor-Kappa B and Promotes Cytokine Production in J774A.1 Cells Through TLR4/MyD88 Signaling Pathway

“…IL-1β and TNF-α are released by multiple signaling transduction pathways, including TLRs, which are widely expressed on the surface of macrophages (Roeder et al, 2004;Wang et al, 2021). TLRs are the most important ones of PRRs, which form the cornerstone of the innate immune response (El-Zayat et al, 2019).…”

“…TLRs are the most important ones of PRRs, which form the cornerstone of the innate immune response (El-Zayat et al, 2019). Among the members of TLRs, TLR2 and TLR4 can bind polysaccharide ligands, activating the downstream signaling axes (Wang et al, 2021). CD14, mainly produced by monocytes and macrophages, recognizes and binds various structures and subsequently transfers them to TLRs (Allam et al, 2015).…”

“…Polysaccharides, isolated from various natural sources, possess diverse biological and pharmacological activities including immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimutagenic, antiviral, and antitumor (Guo et al, 2019;Shalini et al, 2019;Mohammed et al, 2021). Notably, numerous studies have shown that polysaccharides, especially from traditional Chinese medicine, exerted significant immune regulation activities and widely applied in pharmaceutical fields (Li C. et al, 2021;Wang et al, 2021).…”

Combining the Anticancer and Immunomodulatory Effects of Astragalus and Shiitake as an Integrated Therapeutic Approach

“…Based on this observation, they proposed that the inhibitory effects of APS on migration of CD4 + CD25 + Treg cells is correlated with the CXCR4/CXCL12 signaling pathway [ 88 ]. Moreover, APS has also been shown to boost the phagocytic capacity of peritoneal macrophages and the proliferation of splenic lymphocytes; increase the serum antibody titters and the production of cytokines such as IL-4 and IL-10, CD40, CD86 in dendritic cells; and promote the maturation of dendritic cells and the transformation rate of peripheral blood neutrophils and lymphocytes [ 89 ].…”

Extraction Optimization, Structural Characterization, and Anti-Hepatoma Activity of Polysaccharides from Scutellaria Barbata D. Don

“…Many studies have shown that polysaccharides used in Chinese medicine have attracted interest in the eld of natural macromolecules because of their signi cant biological activities, which include antitumor (5), antioxidant(6) and anticoagulant activities (7), and treatment applications for ischemiareperfusion injury(8), liver protection (9), viral infections (10), control of blood lipids (11), control of blood pressure (12) and immune regulation (13). Scutellaria barbata D. Don is a plant of the family Lamiaceae (14), is listed in the 2015 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia and has the unique effects of clearing away heat and toxic material, diuresis and detumescence.…”