REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Cancer Immunity and Immunotherapy
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1641928
Preparation, Structural Characteristics and Immune Regulatory Effects of Codonopsis Pilosula Polysaccharides: A review
Provisionally accepted
Meitong Pan1
Xiao Zhuang Zhang1
Shumin Huang1
Meiqi Liu1Shiyi Song1Junbai Ma1
Chenliang Li1
Wei Ma1*Xiubo Liu2*- 1Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
- 2College of Jiamusi, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides (CPPs), a class of representative bioactive compounds derived from Codonopsis pilosula, have attracted considerable attention recently as natural immunomodulators due to their wide range of biological activities and favorable safety profile. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advances in the extraction and purification methods, chemical structural features, immunomodulatory mechanisms, and the impact of structural modifications on the immunological functions of CPPs. Notably, this work emphasizes the integration of structural modification strategies with immunomodulatory mechanisms, a perspective rarely highlighted in previous reviews. Special attention is given to the macrophage-centered TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway, which plays a pivotal role in coordinating adaptive immune responses through cytokine-mediated interactions with T and B lymphocytes. Structural modification strategies, such as sulfation, phosphorylation, selenization, and nano-carrier incorporation, have significantly enhanced the stability, bioavailability, and immunoregulatory effectiveness of CPPs. Furthermore, this review addresses current challenges, including structural heterogeneity, lack of standardization, and limited clinical evidence. This work aims to provide a valuable reference for future research and applications of CPPs as immunotherapeutic agents and functional food ingredients.
Keywords: Codonopsis pilosula polysaccharides, Polysaccharide preparation, Structural characteristics, Immunomodulation, Structural modification
Received: 09 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Pan, Zhang, Huang, Liu, Song, Ma, Li, Ma and Liu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wei Ma, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Xiubo Liu, College of Jiamusi, Heilongjiang University of Chinese Medicine, Harbin, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.