title: Extract of medicinal mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill enhances the non-specific and adaptive immune activities in BALB/c mice.
abstract: Agaricus blazei Murill (AbM) is traditionally used against a wide range of conditions such as ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, foot-and-mouth disease and chronic hepatitis C infection. In this study, we evaluated the immunomodulatory effects of AbM. For the non-specific immune response experiments, a total of 40 female BALB/c mice were divided into control (group 1) and experimental (groups 2-4) groups of 10 animals each. Groups 2, 3 and 4 were orally-administered high (819 mg/kg), medium (273 mg/kg) and low (136.5 mg/kg) doses of AbM daily for six weeks and then six parameters related to non-specific immune response were detected. For the adaptive immune response experiments, 40 female mice were similarly divided into four groups. After six weeks of treatment, animals were immunized with the OVA immunogen. Two weeks later, splenocytes and sera were collected. Four parameters related to adaptive immune response were evaluated. We found that feeding mice with AbM extract increased the IgG level in serum, promoted phagocytosis of peritoneal macrophages and elevated the activity of Natural killer cells. We also found that the highest dose of AbM increased interleukin-2 (IL-2) levels in splenocytes and that a medium dose increased interferon-γ. The levels of interleukin-4 (IL-4) were reduced or unchanged. T-helper type 1 cytokine levels were increased. AbM increased the humoral immune response and also affected the cellular immune response. These results provide evidence that AbM can modulate innate and adaptive immunity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, China Medical University, No 91, Hsueh-Shih Road, Taichung 404, Taiwan, R.O.C. jgchung@mail.cmu.edu.tw; Dr. Chuan-Hsun Chang, Department of Nutrition Therapy, Cheng-Hsin General Hospital, No. 45 Cheng Hsin Street, Taipei 112, Taiwan, R.O.C. E-mail: hsunfang@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wei-Ya
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Ming-Fanf
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Nien-Chieh
authors.initials: NC
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Ming-Yang
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.forename: Hsu-Feng
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Shu-Ching
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Hsueh
authors.forename: Jia-You
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yi-Ping
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chuan-Hsun
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jing-Gung
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Chung
mesh_terms: D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000187:drug effects*; D000364:Agaricus / Q000737:chemistry*; D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood; D007155:Immunologic Factors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D017737:Macrophages, Peritoneal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010587:Phagocytosis / Q000187:drug effects; D013154:Spleen / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007155:Immunologic Factors
keywords: Agaricus blazei Murill extract; BALB/c mice; immune activity