The antifibrotic effects of hot water extract (WEC), intracellular biopolymer (IPC) and extracellular biopolymers (EPC) from mycelial liquid culture of Cordyceps militaris on liver fibrosis were studied. Liver fibrosis was induced by a bile duct ligation and scission (BDL/S) operation, duration of 4 weeks in rats. In BDL/S rats, the levels of aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total bilirubin in serum and hydroxyproline content in liver were dramatically increased. The WEC or IPC treatment (30 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks, p.o.) in BDL/S rats reduced the serum AST, ALT and ALP levels significantly (p<0.01). The EPC treatment (30 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks, p.o.) reduced the serum ALT, AST and ALP levels significantly (p<0.01). Malondialdehyde contents in liver treated with WEC, IPC or EPC were significantly reduced (p<0.05). But Liver hydroxyproline content was decreased only in EPC treated BDL/S rats to 55% that of BDL/S control rats (p<0.01). The morphological characteristics and expression of alpha smooth muscle like actin in fibrotic liver, which appeared in BDL/S control group were improved in EPC treated fibrotic liver. These results indicate that EPC (30 mg/kg/day for 4 weeks, p.o.) has an antifibrotic effect on fibrotic rats induced by BDL/S.
The hypoglycemic effect of an exo-polymer produced from a submerged mycelial culture of Lentinus edodes was investigated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. The administration of the exo-polymer (200 mg/kg BW) reduced the plasma glucose level by as much as 21.5%, and increased plasma insulin by 22.1% as compared to the control group. It also lowered the plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels by 25.1 and 44.5%, respectively. Gel chromatography of the exo-polymer revealed a single peak which is likely to have been a glycoprotein with a molecular weight of 52 kDa and was found to contain 83.5% carbohydrate and 16.5% protein. The Sugar and amino acid compositions of the exo-polymer were analyzed in detail.
The antitumor effect of exo-biopolymer (EXP) produced by Ganoderma applanatum was investigated using sarcoma-180 bearing mice. EXP, when administered (10-80 mg/kg body weight: BW) intraperitoneally, significantly inhibited the growth of solid tumor and increased the natural killer (NK) cell activity. A dose of 40 mg/kg BW was found to be highly effective, as it reduced the tumor formation by 39.7%, and increased the NK cell activity of splenocytes by 51.6% compared with the control group. The complement activity of EXP was increased in accordance with an increase in concentration. The phosphatase activity of macrophages was increased by 0.7-fold (200 microg/mL) compared with the control group. This EXP contained 58.9% carbohydrate and 17.1% protein. The major sugar of EXP was composed of mannose and glucose, while the protein mainly consisted of serine, glycine and aspartic acid.
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