Amelioration of Atherosclerosis by the New Medicinal Mushroom Grifola gargal Singer

• Published in: Journal of medicinal food Vol. 18; no. 8; pp. 872 - 881
• Main Authors: Harada, Etsuko, D'Alessandro-Gabazza, Corina N, Toda, Masaaki, Morizono, Toshihiro, Chelakkot-Govindalayathil, Ayshwarya-Lakshmi, Roeen, Ziaurahman, Urawa, Masahito, Yasuma, Taro, Yano, Yutaka, Sumiya, Toshimitsu, Gabazza, Esteban C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Mary Ann Liebert, Inc 01.08.2015
• Subjects: Agaricales - chemistry; Angiotensin II - administration & dosage; Angiotensin II - toxicity; Animals; aorta; Apolipoproteins E - deficiency; atherosclerosis; Atherosclerosis - chemically induced; Atherosclerosis - diet therapy; Atherosclerosis - metabolism; Atherosclerosis - pathology; Biological Products - administration & dosage; Biological Products - chemistry; Biological Products - pharmacology; Blood Vessels - drug effects; Blood Vessels - pathology; Chemokine CCL2 - metabolism; Chemokine CXCL12 - metabolism; Disease Models, Animal; fibroblasts; Fibroblasts - cytology; Fibroblasts - drug effects; Fibroblasts - metabolism; granulocytes; Granulocytes - drug effects; Grifola; Grifola - chemistry; heart; Heart - drug effects; Heart - physiopathology; Injections, Intraperitoneal; medicinal fungi; Mice; mushrooms; plasma cells; secretion; T-lymphocytes; T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory - metabolism; therapeutics; transforming growth factor beta 1; Transforming Growth Factor beta1 - metabolism; Treatment Outcome; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - metabolism; vascular endothelial growth factors; atheroma; mushrooms; regulatory T cells; remodeling; vasculitis; progenitor cells; cytokines; chemokines
• ISSN: 1557-7600; 1557-7600
• DOI: 10.1089/jmf.2014.3315

The beneficial effects of edible mushrooms for improving chronic intractable diseases have been documented. However, the antiatherogenic activity of the new medicinal mushroom Grifola gargal is unknown. Therefore, we evaluated whether Grifola gargal can prevent or delay the progression of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis was induced in ApoE lipoprotein-deficient mice by subcutaneous infusion of angiotensin II. Grifola gargal extract (GGE) was prepared and intraperitoneally injected. The weight of heart and vessels, dilatation/atheroma formation of thoracic and abdominal aorta, the percentage of peripheral granulocytes, and the blood concentration of MCP-1/CCL2 were significantly reduced in mice treated with GGE compared to untreated mice. By contrast, the percentage of regulatory T cells and the plasma concentration of SDF-1/CXCL12 were significantly increased in mice treated with the mushroom extract compared to untreated mice. In vitro, GGE significantly increased the secretion of SDF-1/CXCL12, VEGF, and TGF-β1 from fibroblasts compared to control. This study demonstrated for the first time that Grifola gargal therapy can enhance regulatory T cells and ameliorate atherosclerosis in mice.