Lion's Mane, Hericium erinaceus and Tiger Milk, Lignosus rhinocerotis (Higher Basidiomycetes) Medicinal Mushrooms Stimulate Neurite Outgrowth in Dissociated Cells of Brain, Spinal Cord, and Retina: An In Vitro Study

Abstract

Neurodegenerative disease is defined as a deterioration of the nervous system in the intellectual and cognitive capabilities. Statistics show that more than 80-90 million individuals age 65 and above in 2050 may be affected by neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Studies have shown that out of 2000 different types of edible and/or medicinal mushrooms, only a few countable mushrooms have been selected until now for neurohealth activity. Hericium erinaceus is one of the well-established medicinal mushrooms for neuronal health. It has been documented for its regenerative capability in peripheral nerve. Another mushroom used as traditional medicine is Lignosus rhinocerotis, which has been used for various illnesses. It has been documented for its neurite outgrowth potential in PC12 cells. Based on the regenerative capabilities of both the mushrooms, priority was given to select them for our study. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential of H. erinaceus and L. rhinocerotis to stimulate neurite outgrowth in dissociated cells of brain, spinal cord, and retina from chick embryo when compared to brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Neurite outgrowth activity was confirmed by the immu-nofluorescence method in all tissue samples. Treatment with different concentrations of extracts resulted in neuronal differentiation and neuronal elongation. H. erinaceus extract at 50 µg/mL triggered neurite outgrowth at 20.47%, 22.47%, and 21.70% in brain, spinal cord, and retinal cells. L. rhinocerotis sclerotium extract at 50 µg/mL induced maximum neurite outgrowth of 20.77% and 24.73% in brain and spinal cord, whereas 20.77% of neurite outgrowth was observed in retinal cells at 25 µg/mL, respectively.

Online Survey for Patient Outcomes on Hericium Erinaceous Mushroom

“…38 Older research suggests that extracts of lion's mane mushrooms may encourage nerve cells to grow and repair more quickly. 39 These findings similar to our results that intake of lion's mane for more than 3 months can have neuroprotective effects and assist in the treatment of different neural diseases, feedback satisfaction of H. Erinaceous intake was (18.2%) 7 out of 10.…”

Docking Studies and Biological Evaluation of a Potential β-Secretase Inhibitor of 3-Hydroxyhericenone F from Hericium erinaceus

“…A majority of medicinal mushrooms were reported to affect the nervous system namely, Lion’s Mane, H. erinaceus and Tiger Milk, Lignosus rhinocerotis . The latter two mushrooms can stimulate neurite outgrowth (Samberkar et al, 2015), whereas Phellinus igniarius can reduce transient cerebral ischemia-induced neuronal death, suppress oxidative injury and disrupt the blood–brain barrier via microglia activation (Kim et al, 2015). Agaricus blazei protects the brain against oxidative stress-induced damage and increases mitochondrial-coupled respiration (de Sá-Nakanishi et al, 2014).…”

A Status Review of the Bioactive Activities of Tiger Milk Mushroom Lignosus rhinocerotis (Cooke) Ryvarden

“…In a different study, aqueous extract of L. rhinocerotis sclerotium was investigated for stimulation of neurite outgrowth in dissociated cells of the brain, spinal cord, and retina of chick embryo (Samberkar et al, 2015 ). After 48 h incubation, the aqueous extract at 50 μg/mL induced maximum neurite outgrowth of 20.8 and 24.7% in brain and spinal cord.…”