Antitumor and Immuno-potentiating Activities of Crude Polysaccharides from Fruiting Body of Agaricus brasiliensis

Abstract

: Agaricus brasiliensis, one of edible mushroom belonging to Basidiomycota, has been used for curing gastric ulcer and stomach cancer of human beings and also known to have good inhibitory effects on sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich carcinoma of mice. Neutral saline soluble (0.9% NaCl), hot water soluble and methanol soluble substances (hereinafter referred to Fr. NaCl, Fr. HW and Fr. MeOH, respectively) were prepared from fruiting body of the mushroom. β-glucan and total protein contents were identify from fractions of edible mushrooms extract. The β-glucan and protein contents of all fractions of the mushrooms ranged from 21.54~32.31% and 0.16~9.34%, respectively. In vitro cytotoxicity tests, crude polysaccharides were not cytotoxic against cancer cell lines such as Sarcoma 180, NIH3T3 and RAW 264.7 at the concentration of 10~2000 µg/ml. Intraperitoneal injection with crude polysaccharides exhibited life prolongation effect of 18.8~50.6% in mice previously inoculated with Sarcoma 180. Fr. HW increased the numbers of spleen cell by 1.2 fold at the concentration of 200 µg/ml compared with control. Fr. MeOH and Na improved the immuno-potentiating activity of B lymphocyte by increasing the alkaline phosphatase activity by 1.6 fold compared with control at the concentration of 50~500 µg/ml. Fr. Na generated 15.9 µM of nitric oxide (NO) when cultured with RAW 264.7 at the concentration of 200 µg/ml, while lipopolysaccharide, a positive control, produced 3.7 µM. The Fr. NaCl, Fr. HW and Fr. MeOH increased the secretion of TNF-α, IL-1β, Il-2 and IL-6 by 2.2 times compared with the control group. Fr. Na increased the numbers of peritoneal exudate cells by 4 folds at the concentration of 50 mg/kg compared with control. Circulating leukocytes increased by 2.7 folds when Fr. HW from A. brasiliensis was inoculated at the concentration of 50 mg/kg body weight. The hematological and blood chemical analysis of the 3 fractions did not show any difference in blood compositions and enzyme activities compared with the control group (p<0.05). Therefore, the experimental results suggested that crude polysaccharides extracted from A. brasiliensis contain antitumor and immuno-potentiating activities against Sarcoma 180 in ICR mice.

Immunomodulating and Antitumor Activities of Panellus serotinus Polysaccharides

“…Cha et al [ 22 ] reported an increase in APase activity of 1.2~1.6-fold upon stimulation with crude polysaccharides of Agaricus brasiliensis at concentrations of 50~200 µg/mL. Therefore, it is concluded that treatment with Fr.…”