Small bowel obstruction caused by a shiitake mushroom: a case report

A 77-year-old male farmer sustained severe abdominal cramping pain for one hour. Contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) showed a 5.2 cm, oval lesion with interior mottled gas and slightly hyperdense component in the small bowel loop causing distension of the proximal small bowel loop. CT diagnosis of a bezoar in the small bowel causing bowel obstruction was made. Exploratory laparotomy disclosed a foreign body of soft texture in the jejunum located at 150 cm from the ligament of Treitz. A whole, undigested shiitake mushroom was noted after incision of the bowel. The patient had an uneventful course during the 9 days of hospitalization. The patient had recalled that he did not have any teeth and did not use dentures during eating, and accidentally swallowed the shiitake mushroom 2 days before the incident occurred

Shiitake dermatitis: two clinical forms of cutaneous presentation in the same patient / Dermatitis por shiitake: dos formas clínicas de presentación cutánea en un mismo paciente

La dermatitis por hongos Shiitake ocurre en un pequeño porcentaje de casos luego de la ingesta de este hongo en forma cruda o semi-cruda. Se manifiesta usualmente como una dermatosis flagelada localizada principalmente en la espalda y en forma más ocasional con otro tipo de lesiones incluyendo la urticaria, petequias y una dermatitis de contacto entre otras. Este estudio describe un paciente sano de 46 años con dos tipos diferentes de reacciones al hongo, espaciadas en el tiempo. Primero está la típica dermatosis flagelada luego de la ingesta del hongo Shiitake y un tiempo después luego de que se había mejorado completamente, un segundo rash en la forma de dermatitis de contacto con descamación y prurito de las manos y dedos luego de la manipulación del hongo. Según nuestro conocimiento, este es el primer caso con dos diferentes formas de presentación clínica de reacción alérgica al hongo Shiitake en el mismo paciente

Shiitake fungal dermatitis occurs in a small percentage of cases after ingestion of this raw or semi-raw mushroom. It usually manifests as flagellated dermatosis located mainly on the back and more rarely with other types of lesions, including urticaria, petechiae, and contact dermatitis, among others. This study described a healthy 46-year-old male patient who presented two different forms of reaction to mushrooms, spaced over time. First is the typical form of flagellated dermatosis after the Shiitake mushrooms ingestion, and shortly after, when fully recovered, with a second rash in the form of contact dermatitis with desquamation and itching of hands and fingers after the mushroom manipulation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case reported with two different cutaneous clinical forms of allergic reaction to Shiitake mushrooms in the same patient.

Raw shiitake-induced systemic allergic contact dermatitis

It has been reported that ingestion of raw or undercooked shiitake mushrooms is associated with various adverse food reactions. A 58-year-old man presented with pruritic and maculopapular rashes on the trunk and extremities starting 1 day after ingestion of partially uncooked shiitake mushrooms. A probable diagnosis of systemic allergic contact dermatitis was made. Raw and cooked shiitake mushroom-derived allergen extracts were prepared, and patch and intradermal tests with delayed readings were performed. The case showed positive intradermal test results with delayed readings to the raw, but not cooked, extracts. The case suggests that ingestion of uncooked shiitake mushrooms may induce systemic allergic contact dermatitis through type IV hypersensitivity reaction.

Improvement of yield of the edible and medicinal mushroom Lentinula edodes on wheat straw by use of supplemented spawn

The research evaluated the interactions of two main factors (strain / types of spawn) on various parameters with the purpose to assess its effect on yield and biochemical composition of Lentinula edodes fruiting bodies cultivated on pasteurized wheat straw. The evaluation was made with four strains (IE-40, IE-105, IE-124 and IE-256). Different types of spawns were prepared: Control (C) (millet seed, 100%), F1 (millet seed, 88.5%; wheat bran, 8.8%; peat moss, 1.3%; and CaS0(4), 1.3%) and F2 (the same formula as F1, but substituting the wheat bran with powdered wheat straw). Wheat straw was pasteurized by soaking it for 1 h in water heated to 65 °C. After this the substrate (2 kg wet weight) was placed in polypropylene bags. The bags were inoculated with each spawn (5% w/w) and incubated in a dark room at 25 °C. A proximate analysis of mature fruiting bodies was conducted. The mean Biological Efficiency (BE) varied between 66.0% (C-IE-256) and 320.1% (F1-IE-124), with an average per strain of 125.6%. The highest mean BE was observed on spawn F1 (188.3%), significantly different from C and F2. The protein content of fruiting bodies was high, particularly in strain IE-40-F1 (17.7%). The amount of fat varied from 1.1 (F1-IE-40) to 2.1% (F2-IE-105) on dry matter. Carbohydrates ranged from 58.8% (F1-IE-40) to 66.1% (F1-IE-256). The energy value determined ranged from 302.9 kcal (F1-IE-40) to 332.0 kcal (F1-IE-256). The variability on BE observed in this study was significantly influenced by the spawn's formulation and genetic factors of the different strains.

Determination of Glucan Contents in the Fruiting Bodies and Mycelia of Lentinula edodes Cultivars

Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) containing beta-glucans may be beneficial for human health; they have been used in the treatment of cancer, hypertension, and high cholesterol levels. The objective of this study was to determine the beta-glucan content in different sections of the fruiting bodies and mycelia of ten shiitake mushroom cultivars. The measured beta-glucan content ranged from 20.06 +/- 1.76% to 44.21 +/- 0.13% in the pileus sections, and from 29.74 +/- 1.40% to 56.47 +/- 4.72% in the stipe sections. The results of this study indicate that the variance in beta-glucan content dependent on the shiitake cultivar, and that the beta-glucan content is higher in the stipe than in the pileus.

Isolation of a laccase with HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitory activity from fresh fruiting bodies of the Lentinus edodes (Shiitake mushroom).

A laccase with a molecular mass of 67 kDa and inhibitory activity toward HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (IC50 = 7.5 M) was isolated from fresh fruiting bodies of the Lentinus edodes (Shiitake mushroom). Its characteristics were compared with those of laccases from cultured mushroom mycelia reported earlier. The laccase was unadsorbed on DEAE-cellulose, Affi-gel blue gel and CM-cellulose, but was adsorbed on Con A-Sepharose. About 50-fold purification was achieved with a 19.2% yield of the enzyme. The activity of the enzyme increased steadily from 20°C to 70°C. The activity disappeared after exposure to the boiling temperature for 10 min. Its optimal pH was 4 and very little enzyme activity remained at and above pH 10. The laccase inhibited HIV-1 reverse transcriptase with an IC50 of 7.5 M, but did not demonstrate any antifungal or anti-proliferative activity.

Quantitative changes in the biochemical composition of lignocellulosic residues during the vegetative growth of Lentinula edodes

The chemical changes in barley-straw (BS), wheat-straw (WS) and vineyard-pruning (VP) substrates were determined during colonization of Lentinula edodes mycelia (during primordium development) in solid state fermentation. Primordia appeared 39-50 days after inoculation. VP appeared to promote early sporophore initiation. The concentration of hemicellulose in BS and VP decreased gradually from 25.5 percent to 15.6 percent and from 15.8 percent to 12.3 percent, respectively. However in WS, hemicellulose decreased from 27.2 percent to 9.5 percent. Lignin broke down continuously in BS and WS, with 31.8 percent and 34.4 percent degradation, respectively; higher than that of cellulose. During the pinning stage, the C:N ratio decreased in VP and BS, but not in WS. On all substrates the phenols decreased notably throughout the first week of mycelial growth. The time elapsed (days) to pinning was positively correlated with cellulose content (r=0.89), total sugar (r=0.85) and inversely correlated to lignin (r=-1.00) and phenol content (r=-0.55).

Identification and Characterization of Gliocladium viride Isolated from Mushroom Fly Infested Oak Log Beds Used for Shiitake Cultivation

A green mold species that has not previously been reported in Korea was isolated from oak log beds used for shiitake (Lentinula edodes) cultivation that were infested by mushroom flies. In this study, we identify the mold species as Gliocladium viride (an anamorph of Hypocrea lutea) and describe its mycological properties. The fungus was cottony on both potato dextrose agar (PDA) and Czapek yeast extract agar (CYA), but was colored white on PDA and became yellowish green and brown on CYA. Mycelial growth on PDA attained a diameter of 73 mm at 30degrees C after 5 days. The fungus grew faster on malt extract agar (> 80 mm, 5 days at 25degrees C) compared to CYA and PDA (< 68 mm, 5 days at 25degrees C). Penicillate conidiophores of the fungus are hyaline, smooth walled, branching above typically in four stages, and 120~240 microm in length. Club-shaped or slender phialides are formed on the metulae. Conidia of the fungus were ovate and elliptic, yellowish brown and green, and 2.5~3.0 microm x 1.8~2.3 microm in size. Typically, slimy conidia are formed in a mass and colored brown to dark green to almost black. The internal transcribed spacer rDNA and translation elongation factor 1 alpha gene sequences of the fungus isolated here show 99% identity with previously identified G. viride strains.

Extracellular Enzyme Activities of the Monokaryotic Strains Generated from Basidiospores of Shiitake Mushroom

To obtain basic information on the biochemical property of basidiospores of shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes), the ability of producing extracellular enzyme was assessed using a chromogenic plate-based assay. For the aim, amylase, avicelase, beta-glucosidase, CM-cellulase, pectinase, proteinase, and xylanase were tested against monokaryotic strains generated from forty basidiospores of two different parental dikaryotic strains of shiitake mushroom, Sanjo-101Ho and Sanjo-108Ho. These two parental strains showed different degree of extracellular enzyme activity. No identical patterns of the degree of enzyme activity were observed between monokaryotic strains and parental strains of the two shiitake cultivars. The degree of extracellular enzyme activity also varied among monokaryotic strains of the two shiitake cultivars. Our results showed that dikaryotic parental strains of shiitake mushroom produce monokaryotic basidiospores having very diverse biochemical properties.

Shiitake Dermatitis in Korea ; Clinical and Histopathologic Study / 대한피부과학회지

BACKGROUND: Shiitake dermatitis has been reported mostly from Japan and characterized by distinctive pattern of itchy skin eruption after the ingestion of raw shiitake mushrooms. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to investigate clinical, laboratory and histopathologic profiles about shiitake dermatitis occurring in Korea. METHODS: From 1997 to 2001, we had observed 58 patients with shiitake dermatitis and investigated clinical, laboratory and histopathologic aspects. RESULT: Most patients with shiitake dermatitis presented with a very strong itching sensation, which was accompanied with linearly grouped or disseminated small erythematous papules. 53 patients(91%) had noticed their skin eruption within 3 days after eating shiitake mushrooms. The involved sites were trunk, extremities, neck and face in decreasing order of frequency. Laboratory and histopathologic findings were nonspecific. In 33 patients(57%), the eruption occurred after eating boiled or panbroiled shiitake mushrooms. CONCLUSION: In this study, clinical, laboratory and histopathologic findings of shiitake dermatitis were almost consistent with the previous reports. But, contrary to the previous reports in Japan, many cases with shiitake dermatitis occurred on eating sufficiently boiled or cooked shiitake mushrooms. This may imply another eiologic factor different from thermolabile toxin.

Ethyl acetate extracted from Shiitake Mushroom induced apoptosis in a breast cancer cell line-MCF-7 / 中国药理学通报

Aim This study was to examine the effect of ethyl acetate extract of shiitake mushroom on a human breast cancer line-MCF-7 cell in vitro. Method Cell cytotoxicity was examined using MTT method, Cell apoptosis was examined by AnnexinV-FITC/PI staining,Cell cycle analysis was determined by flow cytometry. Western blot analysis was used to determine Cyclin D_1、Cdk4、Bax and p21WAE1/CIP1 protein expression. Results Concentration-dependent cytotoxic effects of the extract were observed in MCF-7 human breast cancer cell lines. Pro-apoptotic proteins (Bax, p21WAE1/CIP1)were up-regulated while proteins involved in cell cycle(Cyclin D_1 and Cdk4)were down-regulated. Conclusion This study suggests that the anti-breast cancer activities might result from increased apoptosis and growth arrest