Abstract
Consumption of edible mushrooms has been suggested to improve health. A number of isolated mushroom constituents can also modulate immunity. Five commonly consumed edible mushrooms were tested to determine whether they stimulate the immune system in vitro and in vivo. White button (WB) extracts readily stimulated macrophage production of TNF‐α. Crimini, maitake, oyster and shiitake extracts also stimulated TNF‐α production but the levels were lower than WB. Primary cultures of murine macrophage and ovalbumin (OVA) specific T cells showed that whole mushroom extracts alone did not affect cytokine production but co‐stimulation with either lipopolysacharide or OVA (respectively) induced TNF‐α, IFN‐γ, and IL‐1β while decreasing IL‐10. WB‐fed mice (2%; 4 weeks) showed no effect on ex vivo immune responsiveness or associated toxicity (pathology of liver, kidney and gastrointestinal tract). Mice fed 1% WB and stimulated with dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) were protected from DSS‐induced weight loss. In addition, 2% WB feeding protected mice from transient DSS‐ induced colonic injury. The TNF‐α response in the colon and serum of the DSS challenged and 2% WB fed mice was higher than controls. Data support a model whereby edible mushrooms regulate immunity in vitro. In vivo effects of edible mushrooms required a DSS challenge to detect TNF‐α changes and transient protection from colonic injury. There were modest effects of in vivo consumption of edible mushrooms on induced inflammatory responses. The result is not surprising since it certainly would be harmful to strongly induce or suppress immune function following ingestion of a commonly consumed food.
Highlights
Consumption of edible mushrooms has been suggested to improve health
The crimini, maitake, oyster and shiitake extracts all stimulated tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α production from the RAW 264.7 cells; the amount of TNF-α produced was significantly less than stimulation with the white button (WB) mushroom extracts (Fig. 1)
Mushroom regulated cytokine production in bone marrow derived macrophage (BMDM) Follow up experiments used macrophage isolated from the bone marrow (BM) of wildtype (WT) mice
Summary
A number of isolated mushroom constituents have been shown to modulate immunity. Efforts have been made to isolate and purify the active and protective components of mushrooms. Many of these compounds are large polysaccharides or β-(1→6)-branched β(1→3)-linked glucans. Extracts of multiple varieties of mushrooms have been shown to be protective in experimental cancer models; presumably because in part they boost anti-tumor immunity. Whether these same benefits of mushrooms can be derived from whole mushrooms instead of the isolated components is not known
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