Anti-inflammatory Cerebrosides from Cultivated Cordyceps militaris

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 64; no. 7; pp. 1540 - 1548
• Main Authors: Chiu, Ching-Peng, Liu, Shan-Chi, Tang, Chih-Hsin, Chan, You, El-Shazly, Mohamed, Lee, Chia-Lin, Du, Ying-Chi, Wu, Tung-Ying, Chang, Fang-Rong, Wu, Yang-Chang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: WASHINGTON American Chemical Society 24.02.2016; Amer Chemical Soc
• Subjects: Agriculture; Agriculture, Multidisciplinary; Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - chemistry; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - isolation & purification; Anti-Inflammatory Agents - pharmacology; Cerebrosides - chemistry; Cerebrosides - isolation & purification; Cerebrosides - pharmacology; Chemistry; Chemistry, Applied; Cordyceps - chemistry; Cordyceps - growth & development; Food Science & Technology; Fruiting Bodies, Fungal - chemistry; Fruiting Bodies, Fungal - growth & development; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; Macrophages - drug effects; Macrophages - immunology; Mice; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II - genetics; Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II - immunology; Physical Sciences; RAW 264.7 Cells; Science & Technology; cerebrosides; anti-inflammatory; fungal fruiting bodies; Cordyceps militaris; LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages; METABOLITES; FUNGI; INFLAMMATORY RESPONSES; NATURAL-PRODUCTS; SPHINGOLIPIDS; SINENSIS; MACROPHAGE CELLS; ERGOSTEROL; NF-KAPPA-B; GENUS CORDYCEPS
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.5b05931

Cordyceps militaris (bei-chong-chaw, northern worm grass) is a precious and edible entomopathogenic fungus, which is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as a general booster for the nervous system, metabolism, and immunity. Saccharides, nucleosides, mannitol, and sterols were isolated from this fungus. The biological activity of C. militaris was attributed to the saccharide and nucleoside contents. In this study, the aqueous methanolic fraction of C. militaris fruiting bodies exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory activity. Bioactivity-guided fractionation of the active fraction led to the isolation of eight compounds, including one new and two known cerebrosides (ceramide derivatives), two nucleosides, and three sterols. Cordycerebroside A (1), the new cerebroside, along with soyacerebroside I (2) and glucocerebroside (3) inhibited the accumulation of pro-inflammatory iNOS protein and reduced the expression of COX-2 protein in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. This is the first study on the isolation of cerebrosides with anti-inflammatory activity from this TCM.