The use of mushrooms contributes to human nutrition by providing low lipid content of lipids and high dietary fiber content, as well as significant content of other biologically active compounds such as polysaccharides, minerals, vitamins, and polyphenolic antioxidants. This study aimed to determine the content of polyphenols and polysaccharides, as well as the cytotoxic and antioxidative properties of several medicinal mushroom preparations. The content of total phenols and flavonoids of preparations of blended mushroom extracts (Lentifom, Super Polyporin, Agarikon, Agarikon Plus, Agarikon.1, and Mykoprotect.1) was evaluated quantitatively by using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy spectrophotometric methods. The antioxidant capacity of the preparations was evaluated using the ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) and ferric reducing/antioxidant power assays. The content of water-soluble polysaccharides was determined using a specific gravimetric method, based on ethanol precipitation. To determine cytotoxic effects of single and blended mushroom extracts, MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) and neutral red assays were conducted using human small cell lung cancer, lung adenocarcinoma, colon cancer, and brain astrocytoma cancer cells. The obtained results suggest that due to the significant content of beneficial polyphenolic antioxidants and soluble polysaccharides, use of these mushroom preparations is beneficial in maintaining good health, as well as in the prevention and adjuvant biotherapy of various human pathological aberrations. These results reveal that these extracts exhibit different cytotoxic effects on tumor cells originating from different tissues. In addition, the comparison of investigated blended mushroom extracts with three well-known commercial mushroom products derived from single mushroom species or single mushroom compounds shows that blended mushroom extracts exhibit significantly stronger cytotoxic effects on human tumor cell lines.

In December 2010 the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare of the Republic of Croatia registered tablet preparations AGARIKON. 1 and MYKOPROTECT. 1, developed by Dr Myko San-Health From Mushrooms Co., as dietary supplements. This may be the first time for a European manufacturer to successfully register its own medicinal mushroom products in a European country. As a product with a very broad spectrum of action, officially described as a preparation for immunity strengthening and general health improvement, AGARIKON.1 is a result of 20 years of research and practice, and is based on the formulation that has achieved the best tumor growth inhibition rates-above 90% on tumor cell lines of mouse squamous cell carcinoma and fibrosarcoma. Since the usage of massive dosages of proprietary blended liquid mushroom extracts in patients with breast, colorectal, lung, and other cancers significantly improved their survival rates, alleviated side effects of standard oncological therapies, improved their quality of life, and resulted in life prolongation-the very idea is that scientifically verified medicinal mushroom products can be used as powerful biological weapons to fight human malignancies. If progressive modem medicine were redefined in a more effective and humane way, cancer mycotherapy should be a part of a broad concept of biological prevention and therapy of cancer. Also, with a very broad spectrum of action, generally formulated as "to strengthen immunity," MYKOPROTECT. 1 is intended as an important element in the prevention and fighting of serious viral infections, whether they are caused by well-known viruses (hepatitis, HIV, etc.) or newly emerging ones.

Medicinal mushrooms are increasingly being recognized as an important therapeutic modality in complementary oncology. Until now, more than 800 mushroom species have been known to possess significant pharmacological properties, of which antitumor and immunomodulatory properties have been the most researched. Besides a number of medicinal mushroom preparations being used as dietary supplements and nutraceuticals, several isolates from mushrooms have been used as official antitumor drugs in clinical settings for several decades. Various proteomic approaches allow for the identification of a large number of differentially regulated proteins serendipitously, thereby providing an important platform for a discovery of new potential therapeutic targets and approaches as well as biomarkers of malignant disease. This review is focused on the current state of proteomic research into antitumor mechanisms of some of the most researched medicinal mushroom species, including Phellinus linteus, Ganoderma lucidum, Auricularia auricula, Agrocybe aegerita, Grifola frondosa, and Lentinus edodes, as whole body extracts or various isolates, as well as of complex extract mixtures.

Mushroom extracts have shown promising effects in the treatment of cancer and various chronic diseases. Osteoporosis is considered one of the most widespread chronic diseases, for which currently available therapies show mixed results. In this research we investigated the in vitro effects of water extracts of the culinary-medicinal mushrooms Trametes versicolor, Grifola frondosa, Lentinus edodes, and Pleurotus ostreatus on a MC3T3-E1 mouse osteoblast-like cell line, primary rat osteoblasts, and primary rat osteoclasts. In an animal osteoporosis model, rats were ovariectomized and then fed 2 mushroom blends of G. frondosa and L. edodes for 42 days. Bone loss was monitored using densitometry (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and micro computed tomography. In the concentration test, mushroom extracts showed no toxic effect on MC3T3-E1 cells; a dose of 24 µg/mL showed the most proliferative effect. Mushroom extracts of T. versicolor, G. frondosa, and L. edodes inhibited osteoclast activity, whereas the extract of L. edodes increased osteoblast mineralization and the production of osteocalcin, a specific osteoblastic marker. In animals, mushroom extracts did not prevent trabecular bone loss in the long bones. However, we show for the first time that the treatment with a combination of extracts from L. edodes and G. frondosa significantly reduced trabecular bone loss at the lumbar spine. Inhibitory properties of extracts from L. edodes on osteoclasts and the promotion of osteoblasts in vitro, together with the potential to decrease lumbar spine bone loss in an animal osteoporosis model, indicate that medicinal mushroom extracts can be considered as a preventive treatment and/or a supplement to pharmacotherapy to enhance its effectiveness and ameliorate its harmful side effects.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most frequent cancer type in both males and females, with about 35% of patients being diagnosed in stage IV metastatic disease. Despite advancements in treatment, life expectancy in patients with metastatic disease is still not satisfying. Due to frequent drug resistance during conventional and targeted cancer treatments, the development and testing of multi-target therapies is an important research field. Medicinal mushrooms specific isolated compounds as well as complex extract mixtures have been studied in depth, and many mushroom species have been proven to be non-toxic multi-target inhibitors of specific oncogenic pathways, as well as potent immunomodulators. In this study, we have performed a tandem mass tags qualitative and quantitative proteomic analyses of CT26.WT colon cancer tumor tissues from Balb/c mice treated with the studied medicinal mushroom extract mixture, with or without 5fluorouracil. Besides significantly improved survival, obtained results reveal that Agarikon.1 alone, and in combination with 5-fluorouracil exert their anticancer effects by affecting several fundamental processes important in CRC progression. Bioinformatic analysis of up-and downregulated proteins revealed that ribosomal biogenesis and translation is downregulated in treatment groups, while the unfolded protein response (UPR), lipid metabolism and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) are upregulated. Moreover, we found that many known clinical biomarkers and protein clusters important in CRC progression and prognosis are affected, which are a good basis for an expanded translational study of the herein presented treatment.