Antifatigue and Antistress Effect of the Hot-Water Fraction from Mycelia of Cordyceps sinensis

Abstract

Higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms have been used in folk medicine throughout the world since ancient times. Edible higher Basidiomycetes are well known for their nutritional value and acceptability as well as their pharmacological properties. Mushrooms are a nutritionally functional food and a source of physiologically beneficial and noninvective medicines. 1) Various physiological properties (pharmacological effects) such as bioregulation (immunological enhancement), maintenance of homeostasis, regulation of biorhythm, cure of disease, prevention and improvement of diseases such as cancer, cerebral stroke, and heart disease are affected by mushrooms. It was also confirmed that mushrooms contain effective substances for decreasing serum cholesterol, improving hyperlipemia, antithrombotic effects, reduction of blood pressure, hypoglycemic action, and various other applications. 2) It was also found that the medicinal properties of cultured mycelia of Cordyceps sp. were as effective as those of the wild species.3) The typical Cordyceps used in traditional oriental medicine is Cordyceps sinensis which forms the fruiting body on the larvae of moths. C. sinensis is also known to have an effect on physiological systems: inhibition of the proliferation of human glomerular mesangial cells, 4) significant contribution to hypotensive activity, 5) and enhancement of Kupffer cell function. 6) However, since most of these physiologically active substances in various Cordyceps sp. were extracted from natural or solid cultured stromata, only a few active substances have been developed for pharmaceutical use. Recently, artificial media for high mass production have been developed in Korea to provide many opportunities for practical use. According to Koh et al.,7) the hot-water (HW) fraction of submerged cultured mycelia of C. sinensis stimulates the proliferation of bone marrow cells through Peyer's patch cells and has bioactivity.Therefore we studied the chemical components and the effects of the HW fraction, the most potent fraction in enhancing immune activity, against stimulus-induced fatigue and stress in vivo using rats and mice. MATERIALS AND METHODSMicroorganism and Materials C. sinensis from Sanming Microbiological Institute in China was used in this experiment. The medium used for liquid culture contained the following per liter: 100 g of molasses, 1 g of yeast extract, and 3 g of K 2 HPO 4 . The submerged cultivation of C. sinensis was carried out at 150 rpm, 25°C, pH 5, and an airflow rate of 1.0 vvm for 7 d in a 5-l jar fermenter using liquid culture medium. The enzymatic kits to estimate the levels of cholesterol, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), akaline phosphatase (ALP) were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.).Animals Male ICR mice (6-8 weeks old) and SpragueDawley rats (6-8 weeks old) were purchased from DaihanBiolink Co. (Korea). Before adaptation, these animals were fed a commercial chow pellet diet (Samyang Co., Korea) containing the f...

Induction of Apoptosis by Cordyceps militaris through Activation of Caspase-3 in Leukemia HL-60 Cells

“…15) The recent scientific evaluation of Cordyceps sinensis has confirmed the efficacy of this extract in the treatment of cardiovascular and endocrine disorders, 16) in immune enhancement, 17) in hepatic protection, 18) in the inhibition of tumor growth, 19) and in relieving fatigue and stress. 20) Cordyceps militaris, together with Paecilomyces japonica, another entomopathogenic fungi, has been listed as a food additive in Korea since 2000, 21) and is often used in different types of tonic drinks sold in Korea due to its folkloric activities, which have not been verified scientifically. Although some recent studies have reported its effectiveness in inhibiting angiogenesis, 22) cancer cell growth, 23,24) and inflammation, 25) scientific evidences of the biological activities of Cordyceps militaris are still very limited compared to other frequently used insect-born fungi of the Cordyceps species, such as Cordyceps sinensis.…”

The Anti-fatigue Effects of the Low-Molecular-Weight Fraction of Bonito Extract in Mice

“…The forced swimming model has been used to evaluate the anti-fatigue effects of various compounds, [12][13][14][15] since this apparatus works well for evaluating the endurance capacity of mice and gives a high reproducibility. 10) BE was found to prolong the swimming time in this forced swimming test, indicating that BE possesses an anti-fatigue effect (Fig.…”

“…This apparatus was used to evaluate the endurance capacity of mice that had been administered with various compounds. [12][13][14][15] Male 5-week-old CD2F-1 mice were made to swim for 20 min at a flow rate of 6 l/min twice in one week to accustom them to swimming. We selected mice suitable for evaluating endurance capacity following the method described previously.…”

Pharmacological actions ofCordyceps, a prized folk medicine

“…Treatment of mice with C. militaris lengthens the swimming time to exhaustion (Jung et al 2004). Koh et al (2003b) reported that the hot-water extract of C. sinensis mycelia prolongs swimming endurance capacity and produces an anti-fatigue action in mice.…”