REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1629803
Unlocking Ginsenosides' Therapeutic Power with Polymer-Based Delivery Systems: Current Applications and Future Perspectives
Provisionally accepted
- 1Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
- 2Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, China
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Ginsenosides, as the main active ingredient of Panax plants, have been found to have extensive pharmacological activity and clinical therapeutic potential in recent years. However, its inherent physical and chemical properties such as poor solubility and low intestinal permeability result in low bioavailability, severely limiting its clinical application and translation. To address these challenges, polymeric carriers-valued for their excellent biocompatibility, structural tunability, and intelligent response functions-have been engineered to: (i) enhance solubilization via polymer conjugation and amphiphilic micellar encapsulation; (ii) achieve passive (EPR-mediated) and active (ligand-directed) tumor targeting to minimize off-target distribution; and (iii) enable ondemand drug release through pH-, ROS-, temperature-, and enzyme-responsive designs. In this review, we delve into the mechanistic principles and synergistic interactions underlying each functional module within a cohesive, function-centred design roadmap. Finally, we explore emerging interdisciplinary directions-including AI-guided polymer design, logic-gated nanocarriers, and microfluidic personalized fabrication-that promise to accelerate the bench-tobedside translation of multifunctional ginsenoside therapeutics.
Keywords: Ginsenosides, Polymer-based drug delivery system, Bioavailability enhancement, artificial intelligence, Drug Delivery System Design 1. Introduction
Received: 16 May 2025; Accepted: 26 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yu, Lu, Chen, Deng 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: Huan Liu, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, 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.