Abstract
Hericium erinaceus (HE) has been used both as a traditional Chinese medicine and home remedy for treatment of gastric and duodenal ulcers and gastritis. EP-1, a purified polysaccharide isolated from HE mycelium, has recently been identified as the active component responsible for HE anti-gastritis activity. Because oxidative stress has been implicated as a pathogenic cause of gastritis and gastric ulcers, EP-1 antioxidant properties were systematically examined in vitro using the human gastric mucosal epithelial cell line, GES-1. Results showed that EP-1 possessed higher oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) and 2–3 times higher ability to scavenge 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), superoxide and hydroxyl radicals than a hot water extract of commercially available HE fruiting body. A crude mycelial polysaccharide (CMPS) extract of HE, from which EP-1 was purified, showed slightly stronger radical scavenging activity and ORAC than EP-1, with the exception of DPPH-scavenging activity. Antioxidant activities of these extracts were further studied using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-abused GES-1 cells; EP-1 dose-dependently preserved cell viability of abused cells as assessed via MTT assay. Moreover, FACS analysis revealed that EP-1 prevented H2O2-induced apoptotic cell death by inhibiting activation of apoptotic cellular signals within mitochondria-dependent apoptotic pathways. CMPS also prevented H2O2-induced oxidative stress, but to a lesser degree than did EP-1, even though CMPS exhibited comparable or stronger in vitro antioxidant activity than did EP-1.
Highlights
Hericium erinaceus (HE) is well known in Asia as a health-promoting food and important medicinal fungus
The results demonstrated that EP-1 exhibit significant antioxidant activities and protect GES-1 cells from H2O2induced oxidative stress
The mycelium of Hericium erinaceus was extracted with hot water and the extract was successively subjected to ethanol precipitation, hollow fiber ultra filtration and ion–exchange chromatography to obtain the purified anti-gastritis polysaccharide, designated EP-1, as described previously [1]
Summary
Hericium erinaceus (HE) is well known in Asia as a health-promoting food and important medicinal fungus. The anti-gastric/duodenal ulcer activity of the fruiting body has been well documented, as it has been widely used as a traditional Chinese medicine and home remedy for many years, in Japan and China[1]. A unique polysaccharide prevents oxidative stress study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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