ABSTRACT
Several pharmacological properties are attributed to polysaccharides and glucans derived from fungi such as tumor, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activity. In this work, the anti-inflammatory potential of polysaccharides from the fungus Scleroderma nitidum and their possible action mechanism were studied. The effect of these polymers on the inflammatory process was tested using the carrageenan and histamine-induced paw edema model and the sodium thioglycolate and zymosan-induced model. The polysaccharides from S. nitidum were effective in reducing edema (73 percent at 50 mg/kg) and cell infiltrate (37 percent at 10 mg/kg) in both inflammation models tested. Nitric oxide, a mediator in the inflammatory process, showed a reduction of around 26 percent at 10 mg/kg of body weight. Analysis of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines showed that in the groups treated with polysaccharides from S. nitidum there was an increase in cytokines such as IL-1ra, IL-10, and MIP-1β concomitant with the decrease in INF-γ (75 percent) and IL-2 (22 percent). We observed the influence of polysaccharides on the modulation of the expression of nuclear factor κB. This compound reduced the expression of NF-κB by up to 64 percent. The results obtained suggest that NF-κB modulation an mechanisms that explain the anti-inflammatory effect of polysaccharides from the fungus S. nitidum.