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Review
. 2020 Nov 30:11:575704.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.575704. eCollection 2020.

Trends in the Immunomodulatory Effects of Cordyceps militaris: Total Extracts, Polysaccharides and Cordycepin

Chun-Ting Lee  1   2 , Keng-Shiang Huang  1 , Jei-Fu Shaw  3 , Jung-Ren Chen  3 , Wen-Shuo Kuo  4 , Gangxu Shen  1 , Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu  5 , Alina Maria Holban  6 , Yi-Ting Wang  3 , Jun-Sheng Wang  7 , Yi-Ping Hsiang  8 , Yu-Mei Lin  1   3 , Hsiao-Han Hsu  2 , Chih-Hui Yang  3   7   8
Affiliations
Review

Trends in the Immunomodulatory Effects of Cordyceps militaris: Total Extracts, Polysaccharides and Cordycepin

Chun-Ting Lee et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Cordyceps militaris (C. militaris) is a fungus with a long history of widespread use in folk medicine, and its biological and medicinal functions are well studied. A crucial pharmacological effect of C. militaris is immunomodulation. In this review, we catalog the immunomodulatory effects of different extracts of C. militaris, namely total extracts, polysaccharides and cordycepin. Total extracts obtained using water or 50% ethyl alcohol and polysaccharides from C. militaris were discovered to tend to promote type 1 immunity, whereas total extracts obtained using 70-80% ethyl alcohol and cordycepin from C. militaris were more likely to promote type 2 immunity. This article is the first to classify the immunomodulatory effects of different extracts of C. militaris. In addition, we discovered a relationship between different segments or extracts and differing types of immunity. This review can provide the readers a comprehensive understanding on the immunomodulatory effects of the precious folk medicine and guidance on its use for both health people and those with an immunodeficiency.

Keywords: Cordyceps militaris; cordycepin; immunomodulation; polysaccharides; type 1 immunity; type 2 immunity.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(A) The dried fruiting body products of C. militaris (B) The cultured mycelia of C. militaris.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
The biological activities of C. militaris. 3′-deoxyadenosine (cordycepin), adenosine derivatives, polysaccharides, ergosterol analogs, mannitol, peptides, fibrinolytic enzyme, xanthophylls, aqueous or alcohol extracts, and the powders of C. militaris have exhibited specific biological activities. The immunoregulation is one of the important functions of C. militaris. Immune response has been divided into type 1 and type 2, the balance between these two types of immunity is crucial to our health.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The difference between type 1 immunity and type 2 immunity. Type 1 immunity is related to cytotoxic functions and type 2 immunity is related to immunosuppressive function or inflammatory functions of cytokine IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13. In nowadays, type 1 immunity is associated with tumor and intracellular pathogens killing and type 2 immunity is associated with extracellular parasite eradiation and tissue repair, except fibrosis.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Immunomodulatory effects from different ingredients of C. militaris. In normal condition, host immune system always reach the balance of type 1 immunity and type 2 immunity. When the balance is broken, the host might suffer from the disease.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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