Phytochemistry and Pharmacological Activities of Wolfiporia cocos (F.A. Wolf) Ryvarden & Gilb

Poria cocos (Polyporaceae) is a saprophytic fungus that grows in diverse species of Pinus. Its sclerotium, called fu-ling or hoelen, is used in traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine for its diuretic, sedative, and tonic effects. Various studies of this fungus have demonstrated its marked anti-inflammatory activity in different experimental models of acute and chronic inflammation. It is widely used as a constituent of many preparations in Asian medicine, but the number of research papers on its clinical properties is insufficient for establishing its efficacy and safety from a scientific point of view. In this review, we have compiled all the published data concerning the chemistry, pharmacology, and clinical uses of this drug in order to evaluate its clinical interest for future use against various pathologies in which inflammation and immunodepression are implicated. We selected the papers for review on the basis of their ethnopharmacological relevance, using the most relevant databases for the biomedical sciences. Studies on various fungus extracts as well as on the major phytochemical compounds (polysaccharides and triterpenoids) present in Poria cocos comprised the principal objectives of this review. In several of the studies reviewed, the inhibitory effects of triterpenes on phospholipase A (2) (PLA (2)) have been clearly demonstrated. In addition, the inhibitory effects of Poria cocoson the secretion of different cytokines from human peripheral blood monocytes have also been described. Triterpenoids are known to have a pivotal influence on certain diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, autoimmune uveitis, septic shock, and possibly bronchial asthma, while polysaccharides can potentiate the immune response. Reviewing the literature, we found that polysaccharides from Poria cocos enhanced the secretion of immune stimulators and suppressed the secretion of immune suppressors, thus potentiating the immune response. In addition, they showed antitumor activity against different cancer cell lines. This activity is associated with their capacity to inhibit angiogenesis by downregulating both NF- κB and the induction of NF- κB/Rel translocation. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

Poria cocos polysaccharide (PCP) is the major active ingredients of P. cocos and possesses various pharmacological effects, including anti-oxidative and anti-apoptosis effects and activity against cancer. This study investigated the immunomodulatory mechanism by which PCP acts on RAW 264.7 macrophages and LLC tumors in mice.

Mushroom Inonotus obliquus (I. obliquus) has been used as functional food and traditional Chinese herbs for long time. An efficient method for bioassay-guided preparative isolation was used for identifying the anti-inflammatory and anticancer constituents in I. obliquus. The petroleum ether and ethyl acetate fractions were found to have significant inhibition effects on NO production and NF-κB luciferase activity in macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and cytotoxicity against human prostatic carcinoma cell PC3 and breast carcinoma cell MDA-MB-231. Six main constituents were isolated from these two fractions and they were identified as lanosterol (1), 3β-hydroxy-8,24-dien-21-al (2), ergosterol (3), inotodiol (4), ergosterol peroxide (5) and trametenolic acid (6). Compound ergosterol, ergosterol peroxide and trametenolic acid showed anti-inflammatory activities and ergosterol peroxide and trametenolic acid showed obviously cytotoxicity on human prostatic carcinoma cell PC3 and breast carcinoma MDA-MB-231 cell. The results obtained in this work might contribute to understanding the biological activity of mushroom I. obliquus for food and drug application. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.