Polysaccharide based drug delivery systems for Chinese medicines

Polysaccharides have a broad potential for application development for tumour therapy and diagnosis due to their potential immunotherapeutic effects and outstanding biocompatibility. In recent years, more and more natural polysaccharides extracted have been developed. Due to its natural biocompatibility and safety is widely used in the construction of nanomedicines to treat cancer. Natural polysaccharide is mainly composed of glucose, galactose , fructose, and other monosaccharide components, and has anti-aging, anti-tumor, and immune regulatory functions. At the same time, polysaccharides combined application in a new drug delivery system can significantly improve the efficacy. In this paper, Angelica sinensis polysaccharide (ASP), ginseng polysaccharide (GPS), Astragalus polysaccharide (APS), Hyaluronic acid (HA) and Chitosan oligosaccharide (CS) are taken as examples to introduce their structural characteristics, sources, preparation, physiological activities and applications. • Polysaccharides have a broad potential for application development for tumour therapy and diagnosis due to their potential immunotherapeutic effects and outstanding biocompatibility. • Natural polysaccharide is mainly composed of glucose, galactose, fructose and other monosaccharide components, and has anti-aging, anti-tumor, and immune regulation functions. • At the same time, polysaccharides combined application in a new drug delivery system can significantly improve the efficacy.