title: The Mechanisms of Pharmacological Activities of Ophiocordyceps sinensis Fungi.
abstract: The entomopathogenic fungus Ophiocordyceps sinensis, formerly known as Cordyceps sinensis, has long been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of many illnesses. In recent years its usage has increased dramatically because of the improvement of people's living standard and the emphasis on health. Such demands have resulted in over-harvesting of this fungus in the wild. Fortunately, scientists have demonstrated that artificially cultured and fermented mycelial products of O. sinensis have similar pharmacological activities to wild O. sinensis. The availability of laboratory cultures will likely to further expand its usage for the treatment of various illnesses. In this review, we summarize recent results on the pharmacological activities of the components of O. sinensis and their putative mechanisms of actions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bioresources and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bioresources and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bioresources and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
authors.forename: Xiang-Xiang
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bioresources and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China.
authors.forename: Shuai-Chao
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Yunnan Academy of Forestry, Kunming, 650201, China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Conservation and Utilization of Bioresources and Key Laboratory for Microbial Resources of the Ministry of Education, Yunnan University, Kunming, 650091, China. minghemo@126.com.
authors.forename: Ming-He
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Mo
mesh_terms: D032661:Cordyceps / Q000737:chemistry*; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Ophiocordyceps sinensis; bioactive components; entomopathogenic fungus; functional mechanisms; pharmacological functions; traditional Chinese medicine