International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms

ISSN for PRINT: 1521-9437

For Online Access

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2003, Volume5

Issue 4

92 pages

DOI: 10.1615/InterJMedicMush.v5.i4

Issue price - $128.00

Ann-Teck Yap
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Mah-Lee Ng
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 5 Science Drive 2, Singapore 117597

The immunopotentiating efficacy of lentinan, a fully purified (1®3)-b-D-glucan extracted from culinary–medicinal mushroom Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Singer was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. The oral administration of lentinan to AKR mice exerted strong antitumor activity, resulting in raised levels of lymphocytokines such as IFN-g, TNF-a, IL-2, and IL-1a. Tissue cultures of murine macrophages CRL-2019, B-lymphocytes HB-284, and T-lymphocytes CRL-8179, which were treated with lentinan, showed high levels of activation using flow cytometry. Activated immunocytes, particularly the T-helper cells by lentinan, might render the physiological constitutions of the host highly cancer and infection resistant. Adoptive immunotherapy of the immunodeficient mice such as the nude (athymic) mice, B-cell deficient mice, and SCID (severe combined immunodeficient) mice via the transfer of the lentinan-activated immunocytes resulted in the inhibition of tumor growth. Lentinan appeared to represent a unique class of host defense potentiators (HDP), protecting the hosts from the side effects of conventional therapeutic measures and improving various kinds of immunological parameters with no toxic side-effects in animal models.

DOI: 10.1615/InterJMedicMush.v5.i4.20 Download article, 20 pages

Article price - $35.00

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