Appraisal of Antihyperlipidemic Activities of Lentinus lepideus in Hypercholesterolemic Rats

The wild edible mushroom, Lentinus lepideus has recently been cultivated for commercial use in Korea. While the mushroom has been widely used for nutritional and medicinal purposes, the possible anti-hyperlipidemic action is unclear. The effects of dietary L. lepideus on plasma and feces biochemical and on the liver histological status were investigated in hypercholesterolemic rats. Six-wk-old female Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into three groups of 10 rats each. Biochemical and histological examinations were performed. A diet containing 5% L. lepideus fruiting bodies reduced plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein, total lipid, phospholipids, and the ratio of low-density to high-density lipoprotein. Body weight was reduced. The diet did not adversely affect plasma biochemical and enzyme profiles. L. lepideus reduced significantly plasma beta- and pre-beta-lipoprotein, while alpha-lipoprotein content was increased. A histological study of hepatic cells by conventional hematoxylin-eosin and oil red O staining revealed normal findings for mushroom-fed hypercholesterolemic rats. The present study suggests that a diet supplemented with L. lepideus can provide health benefits by acting on the atherogenic lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic rats.

Antihyperlipidemic Effect of Dietary Lentinus edodes on Plasma, Feces and Hepatic Tissues in Hypercholesterolemic Rats

We investigated diet supplementation with shiitake mushroom fruiting bodies on biochemical and histological changes in hypercholesterolemic rats. Six-wk old female Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into three groups of 10 rats each. A diet containing 5% Lentinus edodes fruiting bodies given to hypercholesterolemic rats reduced plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), total lipid, phospholipids, and the LDL/high-density lipoprotein ratio by 34.33, 53.21, 75.00, 34.66, 25.73, and 71.43%, respectively. Feeding mushroom also significantly reduced body weight in hypercholesterolemic rats. However, it had no detrimental effects on plasma albumin, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, glucose, total protein, calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride, inorganic phosphate, magnesium, or enzyme profiles. Feeding mushroom increased total lipid and cholesterol excretion in feces. The plasma lipoprotein fraction, separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, indicated that L. edodes significantly reduced plasma beta and pre-beta-lipoprotein but increased alpha-lipoprotein. A histological study of hepatic cells by conventional hematoxylin-eosin and oil red-O staining showed normal findings for mushroom-fed hypercholesterolemic rats. These results suggest that shiitake mushrooms could be recommended as a natural cholesterol lowering substance in the diet.

Assessment of Antioxidant and Phenolic Compound Concentrations as well as Xanthine Oxidase and Tyrosinase Inhibitory Properties of Different Extracts of Pleurotus citrinopileatus Fruiting Bodies

Cellular damage caused by reactive oxygen species has been implicated in several diseases, thus establishing a significant role for antioxidants in maintaining human health. Acetone, methanol, and hot water extracts of Pleurotus citrinopileatus were evaluated for their antioxidant activities against beta-carotene-linoleic acid and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals, reducing power, ferrous ion-chelating abilities, and xanthine oxidase inhibitory activities. In addition, the tyrosinase inhibitory effects and phenolic compound contents of the extracts were also analyzed. Methanol and acetone extracts of P. citrinopileatus showed stronger inhibition of beta-carotene-linoleic acid compared to the hot water extract. Methanol extract (8 mg/mL) showed a significantly high reducing power of 2.92 compared to the other extracts. The hot water extract was more effective than the acetone and methanole extracts for scavenging DPPH radicals. The strongest chelating effect (92.72%) was obtained with 1.0 mg/mL of acetone extract. High performance liquid chromatography analysis detected eight phenolic compounds, including gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, naringenin, hesperetin, formononetin, and biochanin-A, in an acetonitrile and hydrochloric acid (5 : 1) solvent extract. Xanthine oxidase and tyrosinase inhibitory activities of the acetone, methanol, and hot water extracts increased with increasing concentration. This study suggests that fruiting bodies of P. citrinopileatus can potentially be used as a readily accessible source of natural antioxidants.

Hypolipidemic Activities of Dietary Pleurotus ostreatus in Hypercholesterolemic Rats

This work was conducted to investigate dietary supplementation of oyster mushroom fruiting bodies on biochemical and histological changes in hyper and normocholesterolemic rats. Six-week old female Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into three groups of 10 rats each. Feeding a diet containing a 5% powder of Pleurotus ostreatus fruiting bodies to hypercholesterolemic rats reduced plasma total cholesterol, triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), total lipid, phospholipids, and LDL/high-density lipoprotein ratio by 30.18, 52.75, 59.62, 34.15, 23.89, and 50%, respectively. Feeding oyster mushrooms also significantly reduced body weight in hypercholesterolemic rats. However, it had no adverse effects on plasma albumin, total bilirubin, direct bilirubin, creatinin, blood urea nitrogen, uric acid, glucose, total protein, calcium, sodium, potassium, chloride, inorganic phosphate, magnesium, or enzyme profiles. Feeding mushroom increased total lipid and cholesterol excretion in feces. The plasma lipoprotein fraction, separated by agarose gel electrophoresis, indicated that P. ostreatus significantly reduced plasma beta and pre-beta-lipoprotein but increased alpha-lipoprotein. A histological study of hepatic cells by conventional hematoxylin-eosin and oil red O staining revealed normal findings for mushroom-fed hypercholesterolemic rats. These results suggest that a 5% P. ostreatus diet supplement provided health benefits by acting on the atherogenic lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic rats.

Antioxidant Activities and Tyrosinase Inhibitory Effects of Different Extracts from Pleurotus ostreatus Fruiting Bodies

We evaluated the antioxidant activity and tyrosinase inhibitory effects of Pleurotus ostreatus fruiting bodies extracted with acetone, methanol, and hot water. The antioxidant activities were tested against beta-carotene-linoleic acid, reducing power, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl free radical scavenging activity, and ferrous chelating ability. Furthermore, phenolic acid and flavonoid contents were also analyzed. The methanol extract showed the strongest beta-carotene-linoleic acid inhibition as compared to the other exracts. The acetone extract (8 mg/mL) showed a significantly high reducing power of 1.54 than the other extracts. The acetone extract was more effective than other extracts for scavenging on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals. The strongest chelating effect (85.66%) was obtained from the acetone extract at 1.0 mg/mL. The antioxidant activities of the extracts from the P. ostreatus fruiting bodies increased with increasing concentration. A high performance liquid chromatography analysis detected seven phenolic compounds, including gallic acid, protocatechuic acid, chlorogenic acid, naringenin, hesperetin, formononetin, and biochanin-A in an acetonitrile and 0.1 N hydrochloric acid (5 : 1) solvent extract. The total phenolic compound concentration was 188 microg/g. Tyrosinase inhibition of the acetone, methanol, and hot water P. ostreatus extracts increased with increasing concentration. The results revealed that the methanol extract had good tyrosinase inhibitory ability, whereas the acetone and hot water extracts showed moderate activity at the concentrations tested. The results suggested that P. ostreatus may have potential as a natural antioxidant.