Name of TM Active Ingredient Model Dosing concentration Targets and indicators Immunomodulatory action Ref.
G. glavra
Glycyrrhizin (GL)
Male CD mice (20–25 g)
10 mg/kg
ICAM-1, P-selectin
It decreases the degree of positive staining and densitometry for ICAM-1 and P-selectin.
[67]
Male specific pathogen-free BALB/c mice (6 weeks)
50 mg/kg
neutrophils, macrophages, MPO, CD11b positive cells
It reduces the numbers of total cells, neutrophils, and macrophages, and decreases MPO and CD11b levels to inhibit the migration and infiltration of immune cells.
[66, 67]
TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-6, COX-2, iNOS, NF-κB It decreases the levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-6) and pro-inflammatory mediators (COX-2, iNOS, NF-κB). [66, 67]
18β-Glycyrrhetinic Acid (GA) Female Crl; SKH1-hrBR hairless mice, subcutaneously inoculated with MRSA 600 μg/mL saeR, Hla, RNAⅢ, mecA, sbi It reduces MRSA immune evasion by down-regulating MRSA virulence factors (saeR, Hla, RNAⅢ, mecA, sbi). [72]
KC, G-CSF It reduces the levels of inflammatory cytokines (KC, G-CSF). [72]
Male BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice (6 weeks) 1 and 10 mg/mL for 14 hours co-stimulatory molecules CD40, CD86, MHC class Ⅱ It induces phenotypic maturation of DCs by increasing CD40, CD86 and MHC-Ⅱ expression in DCs. [73]
IL-12, IFN-γ It increases IL-12 levels to promote DC maturation and activates T cells to differentiate into IFN-γ producing Th1 cells. [73]
IL-10 It suppresses excessive inflammatory responses or terminates the immune responses after pathogen eradication by increasing IL-10 levels. [73]
P. ginseng (Pg)
Ginsan
Male pyrogen-free BALB/c mice (5–7 weeks, 18–22 g); S. aureus 25923 or E. coli
0.012, 0.025, 0.5, 25, and 250 mg/kg (intravenous injection)
Macrophage, TLR2, TLR4, TLR9, MyD88, MAPK, JUN 1/2, NF-κB, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, IL-12
It induces resistance to MRSA septicemia by modulating monocyte/macrophage-mediated innate immunity.
[82]
BALB/c mice 100 mg/kg (intraperitoneally introduced, once a day) Serum antibodies, Peyer’s patches, COX-1, COX-2, CCL3 It effectively enhances the humoral immune response to orally delivered antigen, mediated by CCL3 via COX-1 and COX-2. [8]
Pg extract, such as ginsenoside Female mouse mastitis model (lactating mice) 3, 10, 50 mg/mL Macrophage, TLR2, TLR4, NF-κB Pg extracts trigger and induce the inflammatory response. Pg modulates the mRNA levels of TLR2 and TLR4, triggers the activation of the MyD88-dependent pathway and then leads to the liberation of the NF-κB transcription factor. [83]
Ginsenoside MRSA strains: bacterial cells cultured in a Mueller–Hinton broth 100 mg/mL MRSA biofilm It not only attenuates bacterial toxicity but also promotes the influx of antibiotics. [85]
ginseng oligopeptides (GOP) 420 Female healthy BALB/c mice 0.0375, 0.075, 0.15, 0.3 and 0.6 g/kg for 30 days (intragastrically administered) Macrophage, NK cell, T and Th cells It increases macrophage phagocytosis capacity and NK cell activity, and enhances T and Th cells, as well as IL-2, IL-6 and IL-12 secretion and IgA, IgG1 and IgG2b production. [86]
P. quinquefolius aqueous extract of the P. quinquefolius (CVT-E002) Old mice (8–9 weeks) 80 mg chow/mouse daily NK cell in spleen and bone marrow It augments the absolute numbers of NK cells in the spleen and bone marrow. [88]
C57 BL/6 mice 10, 100, 500 Ag/mL B-lymphocyte in the spleen It increases IL2 and IFN-γ levels in B-lymphocytes in a dose-dependent manner. [87]
C57 BL/6 mice (6–8 weeks) 500, 100 and 10 µg/mL Peritoneal exudate macrophages (PEM) It stimulates NO, IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-α levels in PEM. [90]
BALB/c mice (1 week) 18, 6 mg per mouse Plasma cells It increases IgG levels. [90]
O. japonicas OPS, OPL Peritoneal macrophages isolated from ICR mice (18–22 g) 62.5, 31.25, 15.625, 7.813 and 3.907 g/mL Phagocytes, NO, iNOS It improves immune function of macrophages by enhancing phagocytic function and increasing NO and iNOS levels, finally enhancing the ability of sterilization. [100]
IL-1β, TNF-α, MCP-1, MIP1β It exerts immune activity by promoting IL-1β, TNF-α, MCP-1 and MIP-1β levels in macrophages. [100]
31.25, 15.625 and 7.813 g/mL CD14, MHC-II It induces CD14 and MHC-II to promote macrophages activation and maturation. [100]
Ruscogenin (RUS) Male ICR mice (6–8 weeks) 0.3, 1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg MPO It reduces neutrophil infiltration by decreasing MPO levels. [94]
1.0 and 3.0 mg/kg iNOS, NF-κB It suppresses the inflammatory response by decreasing iNOS levels, which might be linked with the down-regulation of NF-κB. [94]
Male C57BL/6 mice (18−22 g) 0.3 and 1 mg/kg NO, IL-6, TNF-α It alleviates lung injury and inflammation by decreasing NO, IL-6 and TNF-α levels. [96]
0.1, 0.3 and 1 mg/kg Bax, cleaved caspase-3, Bcl-2 It inhibits PEC apoptosis by decreasing Bax and cleaved caspase-3 levels and by increasing Bcl-2 levels. [96]
0.3 and 1 mg/kg TLR4, MYD88, NF-κB p65 It attenuates LPS-induced PEC apoptosis and exerts a protective effect on lung injury and inflammation by suppressing the TLR4/MYD88/NF-κB pathway. [96]
Cordyceps mushrooms- C. sinensis Cordyceps sinensis extract (CSE) Sixty male adult BALB/c mice (8 weeks, 20 ± 2 g) 10, 30 and 60 mg/kg Neutrophils, macrophages, MPO It alleviates inflammatory cell exudation by decreasing the numbers of neutrophils and macrophages, as well as MPO levels. [101]
NF-κB p65, COX-2, iNOS, NO, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β It down-regulates NO, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β by inhibiting the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65 and COX-2, iNOS. [101]
Cordyceps mushrooms- C. militaris cordycepin Male specific pathogen-free Wistar rats (8–10 weeks) 1, 10 and 30 mg/kg TNF-α, IL-6, HMGB1, IL-10, TLR4 It alleviates anti-oxidative stress injuries by down regulating TNF-α, IL-6 and HMGB1 as well up-regulating IL-10, which is associated with inhibiting TLR4 signaling. [104, 105]
Neutrophils, MPO, NO, iNOS, LDH It attenuates inflammation by decreasing the neutrophil number and inhibiting their exudation by suppressing MPO, NO, iNOS and LDH levels. [105]
Nrf2, HO-1 It stimulates HO-1 production and alleviates lung injuries by promoting Nrf2 activation and inducing nuclear translocation of Nrf2. [104, 105]
Male BALB/c mice (6-8 weeks) 50, 100 and 200 mg/kg NF-κB, IκB It prevents IκB phosphorylation and NF-κB release to achieve anti-inflammatory effect. [104]
Atractylodes species- A. macrocephala Atractylenolide I (AO-I) Male BALB/c mice (20-24 g) 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg Neutrophils, macrophages, MPO It decreases neutrophil and macrophage numbers in BALF and inhibits neutrophil infiltration by reducing MPO levels. [110]
TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-13, MIF, IL-10 It decreases TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-13 and MIF levels, as well as increases IL-10 levels in a dose-dependent manner. [110]
TLR4, NF-κB, IκBα It exerts a protective effect on ALI-induced mice by inhibiting TLR4, NF-κB activation and IκBα degradation. [110]
Atractylodes macrocephala polysaccharides (AMPS) The murine macrophage cell line RAW264.7 25, 50, 100 and 200 lg/mL Macrophages, NO, TNF-α It stimulates macrophages to promote phagocytic activity and the productions of NO and TNF-α. [115, 116]
NF-κB, IκB It induces IκB degradation and the activation of NF-κB. [115, 116]
Atractylodes species- A. lancea A neutral polysaccharide (ALP-1), an acidic polysaccharide (ALP-3) The murine RAW264.7 macrophage cell line, Specific pathogen free BALB/C mice (6-8 weeks) 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000 and 2000 mg/mL for 18h Macrophages, NO, TNF-α, IL-6 They promote macrophages phagocytosis and the release of NO, TNF-α and IL-6. [117]
HGF They modulate the intestinal immune system by stimulating Peyer’s patch cells to induce HGF production. [117]
water extracts of A. macrocephala and A. lancea Murine normal colonic epithelial cell-line MCE301 cells 100 µg/mL G-CSF They promote the intestinal immune system by promoting G-CSF. [149]
Zhenqi Fuzheng granule (ZQ) Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) Male MF1albino mice (5-6 weeks) 250 mg APS/kg/week for four consecutive weeks Spleen, neutrophil and ROS in intestinal It increases both in the phagocytic ability of neutrophils and the intestinal ROS production. [68]
Yu Ping Feng San (YPFS) water-soluble extracts of YPFS RAW 264.7 murine macrophages 1/mL macrophage It increases the phagocytic activity of macrophages. [124]
1mg/mL; 3h IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α It suppresses the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in LPS-induced cultured macrophages. [124]
0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3 mg/mL; 24h IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α It induces the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines. [124]
1mg/mL; 3h & 24h iNOS, COX-2 It reduces iNOS and COX-2 levels in macrophages at 3-hour time points. However, it induces the two at 24-hour time points. [125]
SMS Filtered SMS solutions Healthy specific pathogen-free ICR mice (20–22 g, 6–8 weeks) 0.375, 0.75 and 1.5 mL/kg IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, NF-κB It inhibits excessive inflammation by regulating NF-κB and decreasing IFN-γ, TNF-α and IL-2 levels. [137]
Schisantherin A Male BALB/c mice, (6–8 weeks) 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg MPO, neutrophils, macrophages It improves inflammatory cell infiltration in pulmonary tissue by inhibiting neutrophils and macrophages, as well as MPO levels. [143]
TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β in the BALF It exerts an anti-inflammatory effect through decreasing TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β levels in the BALF. [143]
NF-κB p65, IκB-α, JNK, ERK, p38 It inhibits the phosphorylation of p65, ERK, p38, JNK, and the degradation of IκB-α in a dose-dependent manner. [143]
Buzhongyiqitang (Hochuekkito) Hochuekkito extract (HET) Female BALB/c mice (6 weeks) 3.4 g/kg/day MRSA, splenocyte It inhibits MRSA and promotes murine splenocyte immunological activity in dose-dependent manners. [144]
73 acute stroke patients (41 HET-treated and 32 non-HET-treated) 7.5 g/day, three divided doses for three months serum nutritional markers It improves levels of serum nutritional markers by supporting nutrition and enhancing innate immunity. [145]
Female C3H/HeJ mice (6-8 weeks) 1000 mg/kg/day mucosal IgA antibody It enhances the IgA immune response. [148]