Did you know that these mushrooms are the second most popular and third most widely cultivated and edible mushroom in the world?
The properties contained within these mushrooms ranges from having anti bacterial, anti viral, anti fungal effects along with many others listed below.
The two main sources of vitamin D3 are de novo synthesis induced by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun, and diet. Vitamin D3 deficiency causes rickets or osteoporosis.
Oak mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) that are exposed to UV radiation contain enhanced vitamin D2 and have much higher calcium content than unmodified (non-irradiated) mushrooms.
These results indicate that in mice, vitamin D2 and/or calcium derived from irradiated oak mushrooms may improve bone mineralization through a direct effect on the bone, and by inducing the expression of calcium-absorbing genes in the duodenum and kidney.
Apoptosis - In this study, potential roles of an ethyl acetate fraction from shiitake mushrooms were investigated by in vitro bioassays.
Concentration-dependent antiproliferative effects of the fraction were observed in all cell lines using the MTT assay. Approximately 50 mg/L concentration of the fraction induced apoptosis in 50% of the population of four human tumor cell lines and the fraction-induced apoptosis may have been mediated through the pro-apoptotic bax protein which was up-regulated.
These data suggest that inhibition of growth in tumor cells by "mycochemicals" in shiitake mushrooms may result from induction of apoptosis.
Anti-Cancer - In this study they determined whether supplemental amounts of a polysaccharide/oligosaccharide complex obtained from a shiitake mushroom extract (SME) would lower the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level in patients with prostate cancer.
The endpoint for the trial was the lowering of the PSA levels.
Anti-tumor activity of mushroom fruit bodies and mycelial extracts evaluated using different cancer cell lines. These polysaccharide extracts showed potent antitumor activity against sarcoma 180, mammary adenocarcinoma 755, leukemia L-1210 and a host of other tumors. The antitumor activity was mainly due to indirect host mediated immunotherapeutic effect.
These studies are still in progress in many laboratories and the