REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Molecular Innate Immunity
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1671519
Article type: Review Kaempferol as a multifaceted immunomodulator: implications for inflammation, autoimmunity, and cancer
Provisionally accepted
- 1First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
- 2Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China
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Kaempferol (KMF) is a dietary flavonoid exhibiting profound immunomodulatory effects across multiple immune cell populations. This review synthesizes current insights into how KMF regulates diverse immune cell populations and its therapeutic potential in inflammatory and immune-related disorders. KMF exhibits multifaceted effects on T cells. It inhibits T cell activation via suppressing various signaling pathways and calcineurin. Additionally, it regulates T cell subset balance through the modulation of different transcription factors. In natural killer (NK) cells, KMF enhances proliferation and cytotoxicity. This effect is partly mediated by gut microbiota modulation, which further boosts anti-tumor immunity. For dendritic cells (DCs), KMF shows context-dependent effects. It can promote adaptive immunity in some settings, while in inflammatory contexts, it suppresses DC maturation and cytokine secretion. KMF reduces neutrophil infiltration and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). It also alleviates eosinophil-driven allergic inflammation and blocks mast cell degranulation. Regarding macrophages, KMF shifts polarization from pro-inflammatory M1 to anti-inflammatory M2 phenotypes in metabolic and fibrotic models.In cancer, however, it inhibits the polarization of tumor-associated M2 macrophages. Overall, KMF modulates multiple immune cell types and signaling pathways, positioning it as a promising candidate for treating autoimmune, inflammatory, and neoplastic diseases. Further translational research is warranted to explore its clinical utility and optimize delivery strategies.
Keywords: Kaempferol, modulation, T cells, Natural Killer cells, Dendrite cells, Macrophages, Granulocytes Abbreviations KMF: kaempferol, MRP-1: multidrug resistance-associated protein 1
Received: 23 Jul 2025; Accepted: 07 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dong, Song, Wang, Wu, Wang and Wang. 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: Han Dong, First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, 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.