94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
REVIEW article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Ethnopharmacology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1535717
Recent advances in the role of polysaccharides in liver diseases: A review
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Pharmacy, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
- 2 Hubei Province Clinical Research Center for Precision Medicine for Critical Illness, Wuhan, China
- 3 Department of Pharmacy, Central Hospital of Wuhan, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China
- 4 Hubei Key Laboratory of Nature Medicinal Chemistry and Resourece Evaluation, Tongji Medical College of Pharmacy, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Liver diseases are a serious health problem worldwide, especially with a sustained increase in the burden of it every year. However, drugs commonly used in patients have limited efficacy and serious adverse reactions associated with long-term use. Therefore, it is urgent to find effective and safe alternatives. Polysaccharides are currently considered promising alternatives to traditional drugs because of their extensive activity and low toxicity. This review investigated the studies on hepatoprotective polysaccharides over the past six years, detailing their hepatoprotective effects, potential mechanisms, and drug carrier applications. These findings suggest that polysaccharides have prominent preventive and therapeutic effects on various liver diseases such as drug-induced liver injury, alcoholic liver disease, hepatitis B, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Its mechanism includes multiple aspects such as metabolic regulation, reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation, and regulation of gut microbiota. Furthermore, owing to the good physicochemical properties, polysaccharides have been applied in delivery systems for chemotherapy drugs and small molecule drugs. However, further research is essential on the bioavailability, structure-activity relationship, and more clinical evidence of polysaccharides. Continued exploration of polysaccharides will provide tremendous potential for the treatment of liver diseases.
Keywords: Polysaccharides, Hepatoprotective effects, Liver Diseases, Drug carrier, Mechanism
Received: 27 Nov 2024; Accepted: 06 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Yang, Wang and Zhang. 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:
Kaiping Wang, Hubei Key Laboratory of Nature Medicinal Chemistry and Resourece Evaluation, Tongji Medical College of Pharmacy, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Yu Zhang, Department of Pharmacy, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei Province, 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.