Chemopreventive Effects - Coriolus versicolor (CPS)] was compared using in vitro short-term screening methods associated with both initiation and promotion processes in carcinogenesis.

In screening anti-tumor promoting effects, APS (180 μg/ml) significantly inhibited phorbol myristic acetate (PMA)-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity in Balb/3T3 cells. In addition, APS significantly inhibited PMA-induced tyrosine kinase activity in human leukemic cells. APS and CPS significantly inhibited superoxide anion formation.

These results suggest that some plant polysaccharides produced both anti-genotoxic and anti-tumor promoting activities in in vitro models and, therefore, might be considered as potential agents for cancer chemoprevention.

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This discussion examines the use of Polysaccharide Krestin (PSK), a proprietary polysaccharide extracted from T. versicolor, in the treatment of gastric, colorectal, lung, breast, and esophageal cancers. PSK has been approved in Japan for use as an adjunct to surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy for cancer, and has shown significant benefits.

This agent appears to act in part by restoring the balance of dendritic and T-helper cells and cytokines related to these cells’ function and maturation in cancer patients.

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Anti-Cancer - Data from multiple epidemiologic and clinical studies on immune effects of conventional cancer treatment and the clinical benefits of polysaccharide immune therapy suggest that immune function has a role in breast cancer prevention.

Immune therapy utilizing the polysaccharide constituents of Trametes versicolor (Tv) as concurrent adjuvant cancer therapy may be warranted as part of a comprehensive cancer treatment and secondary prevention strategy.

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Anti-Tumor - In the present study we investigated the anti-tumor effect of C. versicolor methanol extract (which contains terpenoids and polyphenols) on B16 mouse melanoma cells both in vitro and in vivo.In vitro treatment of the cells with the methanol extract (25–1600 μg/ml) reduced melanoma cell viability in a dose-dependent manner.

The results demonstrate that C. versicolor methanol extract exerts pronounced anti-melanoma activity, both directly through antiproliferative and cytotoxic effects on tumor cells and indirectly through promotion of macrophage anti-tumor activity.

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Apoptosis - The Trametes (=Coriolus) versicolor polysaccharide (CVP) is well known as an anti-tumor drug in clinical applications. Although recent studies have demonstrated that CVPs can inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, different purity levels of CVPs have a different affect on various cancer cells.

In this study, crude CVPs were extracted and purified from T. versicolor dry fruit bodies by hot-water extraction, ethanol precipitation, and phenol-vitriolic colorimetry. The in vitro cytotoxic activities of CVPs were examined on the human hepatoma cancer (QGY) cell lines by using an MTT assay.

There was a significant decrease in the expression of the cell cycle-related genes (p53, Bcl-2, and Fas,) in these cells following treatment with CVPs. These results thus indicate that CVPs can be a potential candidate to ameliorate toxic effects when used in cancer therapy.

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In this study, the extracts of PSP obtained at different days from the Coriolus versicolor culture were tested in vitro for their immune function on human normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) and cytotoxicity on the human leukemia Molt 4 cells.

Flow cytometry analysis on cell cycle and cell death (apoptosis) of Molt 4 cells indicated that the anticancer mechanism of PSP is related to its ability to induce S-phase cell arrest and apoptosis, respectively.

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Antioxidant - In this study they analyzed samples of honey and honey with added mushroom Coriolus versicolor as an antioxidant.

Digestion -In this study they compared the effects of the prebiotic, polysaccharopeptide from Trametes versicolor, to those of the antibiotic, amoxicillin, on the human gut microbiome.

The microbiomes of healthy individuals show substantial diversity but remain stable over time. The antibiotic amoxicillin alters the microbiome and recovery from this disruption can take several weeks. PSP from T. versicolor acts as a prebiotic to modulate human intestinal microbiome composition.

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