Anti-Inflammatory Mechanisms and Translational Relevance of Cordyceps sinensis and Its Bioactive Constituents

Jiahao Xie,* Jingwen Xu,* Qi Fan, Yuchi Chen School of Medical Technology and Information Engineering, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, 310053, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yuchi Chen, School of Medical Technology and Information Engineering, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, 310053, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: Cordyceps sinensis, an important medicinal fungus in traditional Chinese medicine, has gained increasing attention for its diverse pharmacological activities, particularly its anti-inflammatory properties. Its principal bioactive components, including cordycepin, cordycepic acid, polysaccharides, and sterols, exert significant protective effects in a wide range of inflammation-related diseases, primarily covering respiratory diseases, autoimmune disorders, neuroinflammatory conditions, and metabolic and gastrointestinal syndromes. These compounds act mainly by modulating key signaling pathways, including NF-κB, MAPK, TLR4/MyD88, PI3K/Akt, JAK/STAT, and Nrf2/HO-1. This review summarizes recent progress in the identification of anti-inflammatory components of Cordyceps sinensis and their mechanisms of action, highlights current challenges in clinical translation, and outlines future research directions. Collectively, these findings emphasize the broad potential of Cordyceps sinensis as a multi-target natural product–based anti-inflammatory therapy. Keywords: Cordyceps sinensis, bioactive components, anti-inflammatory mechanisms, inflammation-related diseases