This review highlights the emerging role of polysaccharide-based nanocarriers in enhancing vaccine delivery and immune responses. It examines how these nanocarriers address key challenges in vaccine development, including antigen instability and suboptimal immune activation. Polysaccharide nanocarriers offer distinct advantages: improved antigen stability, controlled release, targeted delivery, stimulation of both humoral and cellular immunity, and excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability. Various types are discussed, such as chitosan and its derivatives (carboxylated and quaternized), mannose-based, glucan-based, and inulin-based adjuvants. The review also explores polysaccharides from Chinese medicinal herbs-like lentinan, astragalus, and angelica polysaccharides, for their adjuvant and delivery properties. Case studies demonstrate how these systems enhance immune responses across different vaccines. The authors suggest that polysaccharide nanocarriers could enable next-generation vaccination strategies that are more effective, stable, and safer than current adjuvants. However, they stress the need for further optimization, mechanistic understanding, and clinical validation before widespread adoption. In conclusion, polysaccharide nanocarriers show great promise as innovative platforms for vaccine delivery and immunomodulation, but additional research is essential to fully realize their potential in clinical settings.
Chauhan et al. (2026) studied this question.