Hen of the Woods Grifola frondosa – Klapperschwamm – Dancing mushroom – Maitake - Hui Shu Hua – Keisho

Hen of the Woods

Grifola frondosa – Klapperschwamm – Dancing mushroom – Maitake – Hui Shu Hua – Keisho

The mushroom against metabolic syndrome

 

Interesting compounds

  • D-Fraction* (1-3) - a triple-branched β-1,6-glucan with 10% protein (4):

    • Immunostimulatory – stimulates interleukin-1.

    • Anti-tumor, antiangiogenic, and anti-metastatic, e.g., against lung and breast cancer (5).

    • Improves the effectiveness of interferon alpha-2b treatment, such as for chemotherapy in prostate cancer, and as an antiviral agent in hepatitis B treatment (3).

    • HIV – improves symptoms and complications, increases CD4+ cell count (3).

  • MD-Fraction: stimulates pluripotent stem cells in bone marrow, which can produce either erythrocytes (in anemia) or lymphocytes (in leukopenia) (1,6); has direct anti-tumor activity against breast adenocarcinoma cells in vitro (7).

  • SX-Fraction: antidiabetic effect, improves glucose tolerance, reduces hyperglycemia, increases insulin sensitivity, and has a remarkable ability to restore insulin levels (1,3,8); lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels (3).

  • MT-alpha-glucan: antidiabetic effect, protects pancreatic cells (4,6,8), increases the number of insulin receptors on target cell membranes, improving insulin sensitivity and reducing insulin resistance (3,4).

  • Grifolan – β-1,6-glucan (9): strong immunostimulatory and antitumor effect (2,10), e.g., in bladder, prostate, and stomach cancer (9).

  • GFPS1b: antitumor activity (8).

  • GFP-22: reduces chemotherapy-associated immunosuppression (8).

  • o-Orsellinaldehyde: anti-inflammatory and proapoptotic effect (8).

  • Ergosterol (osteoporosis treatment) and other sterols: anti-inflammatory (via COX inhibition) (9), anti-allergic (11), and inhibits angiogenesis and tumor growth (2,3).

  • High nucleotide content: antiviral (2).

  • HPLC fraction: inhibits the formation of adipose tissue (6).

  • High isoflavone content – mimics human estrogen hormones (7).

  • Phenolic compounds, β-carotene, and lycopene were detected in a methanol-soluble extract from fruiting bodies (9); palmitic, oleic, and linoleic fatty acids (3).

  • Nutritional content: Moisture lower than in other mushrooms (~80%), protein 27%, carbohydrates almost 50%, β-glucans 14.5%, various vitamins – B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), C, D, and various minerals – magnesium, iron, calcium, phosphorus (10).

    *It should be noted that all research data on the D-Fraction also apply to the MD-Fraction, as they are the same β-1,6/1,3-glucan from Grifola frondosa (12).

 

Areas of action and applications

  • Complementary cancer treatment (1,2,8,12-14):

    • Liver, lung, and breast cancer (4,5,7,8,12,13,15).

      • Improves the effectiveness of chemotherapy – promising results from in vitro and in vivo studies.

      • Improves immune status in patients undergoing chemotherapy.

      • Alleviates chemotherapy side effects in patients, including pain, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, hair loss, and leukopenia (3,9), and relieves pain in patients with end-stage cancer.

      • Reduces tumor mass or significantly improves cancer-related symptoms in clinical studies (7,16).

      • Prevents oncogenesis and metastasis in vitro in human breast cancer cells (5,7). Administration of D-Fraction in vitro shows a broad spectrum of antitumor activity against different subtypes of breast tumors: hormone-dependent, hormone-independent, and triple-negative (5).

      • Prevents oncogenesis and metastasis in vitro in human lung cancer cells (5). MD-Fraction reduces cell viability, increases cell adhesion, and reduces migration and invasion of lung cancer cells, leading to less aggressive cellular behavior (7).

      • In vitro and in vivo mouse studies confirmed activity against hepatocellular carcinoma (4).

    • Bladder cancer: clinical studies report disease recurrence prevention, showing antiproliferative and proapoptotic effects on cell cultures (3,17,18).

    • Polysaccharide fractions appear to have specific antitumor, direct antiproliferative, and cytotoxic effects that could slow tumor growth in prostate (3,10,12,18), colon (12,19), stomach (3,12,15,18), leukemia (7), and brain cancer cells (12).

    • Anti-radiation effect – normalized white blood cell counts after radiotherapy in a mouse model (4).

  • Metabolic syndrome (3) and cardiovascular diseases (4,9):

    • Diabetes mellitus II – animal and human studies report positive effects on blood sugar regulation (1-4,8-10,12-14) and prevention of early diabetic complications like diabetic nephropathy in mice (20,21).

    • Weight reduction – animal and human studies report weight loss with oral intake of G. frondosa (1,3,4,8,12,14,22).

    • Hypertension and hyperlipidemia regulatory effects in animal studies (1-4,8,10,12-14).

  • Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) - a small clinical study showed 75% ovulation when conventional treatment failed (8,13).

  • Myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) - a phase II clinical study found that β-glucans stimulate differentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells, production of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor, and recovery of peripheral blood leukocytes after bone marrow injury (23).

  • Immunostimulation:

    • Viral infections (4):

      • HIV – in vivo and human studies support the potential benefit of MD-Fractions (2,3,10,12,14,24).

      • Hepatitis B (2-4,12,14) – especially in combination with interferon treatment.

      • Influenza in vivo (2,9).

      • Enterovirus 71 (25).

    • Bacterial infections – bacteriostatic and bactericidal effects against Helicobacter pylori (9), inhibits biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus (4,26), antibacterial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli (4).

  • Osteoporosis (1,3,8,14,27,28) - effective enhancement of osteogenesis in vitro and in vivo in ovariectomized mice (29,30).

  • Neuroprotection in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases (9,31) - prevents neuronal cell death (31).

  • Prebiotic – regulates the microbiota (9,32) and possibly promotes the absorption of micronutrients in the gut (3).

  • Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) – reduces colon ulcers in lab rats via an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory mechanism (32).

  • Allergies – administration of G. frondosa reduces type 1 allergic reactions and IgE count in vivo (11,32); combined with A. blazei Murril and H. erinaceus, it reduced general allergy symptoms in a study on pollen and asthma in humans (32).

  • Traditional use (3):

    • Diuretic.

    • Antipyretic.

    • Gonorrhea.

    • Improves stomach and spleen function.

    • Hemorrhoids.

    • Calms the mind and nervous system.

    • Neuralgia, paralysis.

    • Various forms of arthritis.

 

Side effects

  • Multiple sclerosis – anecdotal reports suggest that G. frondosa increases the production of interferons, including gamma interferon, which may promote nerve tissue destruction and worsen neuromuscular diseases like multiple sclerosis (3).

  • Case report of occupational hypersensitivity pneumonitis to G. frondosa spores after working on a mushroom farm (32).

References

  1. Rebensburg P, Kappl A. Gesund mit Heilpilzen: Immunsystem stärken, Krankheiten heilen und Beschwerden lindern. München: riva; 2020. 271 p.

  2. Guthmann J. Heilende Pilze: die wichtigsten Arten der Welt: Beschreibung - Inhaltsstoffe - Wirkung. 2., aktualisierte und erweiterte Auflage. Wiebelsheim: Quelle & Meyer Verlag; 2021. 446 p.

  3. Rogers RD. The fungal pharmacy: the complete guide to medicinal mushrooms and lichens of North America. Berkeley, Calif: North Atlantic Books; 2011. 591 p.

  4. He Y, Zhang L, Wang H. The biological activities of the antitumor drug Grifola frondosa polysaccharide. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2019;163:221–61.

  5. Alonso EN, Ferronato MJ, Fermento ME, et al. Antitumoral and antimetastatic activity of Maitake D-Fraction in triple-negative breast cancer cells. Oncotarget. 2018 May 4;9(34):23396–412.

  6. Dr Walter Ardigò. Healing with Medicinal Mushrooms. A practical handbook. Youcanprint; 2017. 394 p.

  7. Rossi P, Difrancia R, Quagliariello V, et al. B-glucans from Grifola frondosa and Ganoderma lucidum in breast cancer: an example of complementary and integrative medicine. Oncotarget. 2018 May 15;9(37):24837–56.

  8. Haertel B, Rimböck M, Neuerer T. Vitalpilze – modulierend - aufbauend - stärkend. Salzburg: Druckerei Roser GmbH; 2019.

  9. Badalyan SM, Barkhudaryan A, Rapior S. Recent Progress in Research on the Pharmacological Potential of Mushrooms and Prospects for Their Clinical Application. In: Agrawal DC, Dhanasekaran M, editors. Medicinal Mushrooms [Internet]. Singapore: Springer Singapore; 2019 [cited 2021 Dec 27]. p. 1–70. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-981-13-6382-5_1

  10. Stamets P. Growing gourmet and medicinal mushrooms =: Shokuyō oyobi yakuyō kinoko no saibai. 3rd ed. Berkeley, Calif: Ten Speed Press; 2000. 574 p.

  11. Kawai J, Mori K, Hirasawa N. Grifola frondosa extract and ergosterol reduce allergic reactions in an allergy mouse model by suppressing the degranulation of mast cells. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 2019 Dec 2;83(12):2280–7.

  12. Mayell M. Maitake extracts and their therapeutic potential. Altern Med Rev. 2001 Feb;6(1):48–60.

  13. Martin Powell. Medicinal mushrooms. [Internet]. Place of publication not identified: Mycology Press; [cited 2021 Dec 27]. Available from: https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11571096

  14. Bianchi I, Marrocchesi R. Guarire con i funghi medicinali: propriet?? terapeutiche e istruzioni per l’uso dei 12 funghi medicinali pi?? importanti. Treviso: Editoriale Programma; 2015.

  15. Nowakowski P, Markiewicz-Żukowska R, Bielecka J, et al. Treasures from the forest: Evaluation of mushroom extracts as anti-cancer agents. Biomed Pharmacother. 2021 Nov;143:112106.

  16. Wong JH, Ng TB, Chan HHL, et al. Mushroom extracts and compounds with suppressive action on breast cancer: evidence from studies using cultured cancer cells, tumor-bearing animals, and clinical trials. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2020 Jun;104(11):4675–703.

  17. Rajamahanty S, Louie B, O’Neill C, et al. Possible disease remission in patient with invasive bladder cancer with D-fraction regimen. Int J Gen Med. 2009 Jul 30;2:15–7.

  18. Stajić M, Vukojević J, Ćilerdžić J. Mushrooms as Potential Natural Cytostatics. In: Agrawal DC, Dhanasekaran M, editors. Medicinal Mushrooms [Internet]. Singapore: Springer Singapore; 2019 [cited 2021 Dec 27]. p. 143–68. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-981-13-6382-5_4

  19. Roca-Lema D, Martinez-Iglesias O, Fernández de Ana Portela C, et al. In Vitro Anti-proliferative and Anti-invasive Effect of Polysaccharide-rich Extracts from Trametes Versicolor and Grifola Frondosa in Colon Cancer Cells. Int J Med Sci. 2019;16(2):231–40.

  20. Kou L, Du M, Liu P, et al. Anti-Diabetic and Anti-Nephritic Activities of Grifola frondosa Mycelium Polysaccharides in Diet-Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats Via Modulation on Oxidative Stress. Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2019 Jan;187(1):310–22.

  21. Jiang T, Wang L, Ma A, et al. The hypoglycemic and renal protective effects of Grifola frondosa polysaccharides in early diabetic nephropathy. J Food Biochem. 2020 Dec;44(12)

  22. Jiang X, Hao J, Liu Z, et al. Anti-obesity effects of Grifola frondosa through the modulation of lipid metabolism via ceramide in mice fed a high-fat diet. Food Funct. 2021 Aug 2;12(15):6725–39.

  23. Wesa KM, Cunningham-Rundles S, Klimek VM, et al. Maitake mushroom extract in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS): a phase II study. Cancer Immunol Immunother. 2015 Feb;64(2):237–47.

  24. Nanba H, Kodama N, Schar D, et al. Effects of Maitake (Grifola frondosa) glucan in HIV-infected patients. Mycoscience. 2000 Aug;41(4):293–5.

  25. Pradeep P, Manju V, Ahsan MF. Antiviral Potency of Mushroom Constituents. In: Agrawal DC, Dhanasekaran M, editors. Medicinal Mushrooms [Internet]. Singapore: Springer Singapore; 2019 [cited 2021 Dec 27]. p. 275–97. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-981-13-6382-5_10

  26. Fasciana T, Gargano ML, Serra N, et al. Potential Activity of Albino Grifola frondosa Mushroom Extract against Biofilm of Meticillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus. JoF. 2021 Jul 10;7(7):551.

  27. Saif A, Lindequist U, Wende K. Stimulating effects of Grifola frondosa (Maitake) on human osteoblastic cell cultures. J Nat Med. 2007 Jun 7;61(3):231–8.

  28. Erjavec I, Brkljacic J, Vukicevic S, et al. Mushroom Extracts Decrease Bone Resorption and Improve Bone Formation. Int J Med Mushrooms. 2016;18(7):559–69.

  29. Patel DK, Seo Y-R, Dutta SD, et al. Influence of Maitake (Grifola frondosa) Particle Sizes on Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells and In Vivo Evaluation of Their Therapeutic Potential. BioMed Research International. 2020 Mar 7;2020:1–13.

  30. Tanaka T, Onuma H, Shigihara T, et al. Anti-osteoporotic effects of syringic acid and vanilic acid in the extracts of waste beds after mushroom cultivation. J Biosci Bioeng. 2019 Nov;128(5):622–9.

  31. Lee W, Fujihashi A, Govindarajulu M, et al. Role of Mushrooms in Neurodegenerative Diseases. In: Agrawal DC, Dhanasekaran M, editors. Medicinal Mushrooms [Internet]. Singapore: Springer Singapore; 2019 [cited 2021 Dec 27]. p. 223–49. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-981-13-6382-5_8

  32. Hetland G, Tangen J-M, Mahmood F, et al. Antitumor, Anti-inflammatory and Antiallergic Effects of Agaricus blazei Mushroom Extract and the Related Medicinal Basidiomycetes Mushrooms, Hericium erinaceus and Grifola frondosa: A Review of Preclinical and Clinical Studies. Nutrients. 2020 May 8;12(5):1339.