Lentinan as an immunotherapeutic for treating lung cancer: a review of 12 years clinical studies in China.

PURPOSE: Lentinan is a polysaccharide extracted from Shiitake mushrooms that have been used to improve general health for thousands of years in Asia. Lentinan injection is a clinically approved drug in several countries in Asia. The purpose of this study is to review the structure, preclinical and clinical studies, and molecular mechanisms of lentinan. Most importantly, the clinical effectiveness of lentinan as an adjuvant therapeutic drug in treating patients with lung cancer in China during the past 12 years is analyzed statistically. METHODS: We carried out literature search of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published from 2004 to 2016 based on CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), VIP (Chongqing VIP Chinese Scientific Journals Database) and Wanfang database, and 38 eligible RCTs of lentinan-associated lung cancer treatment were identified, containing 3,117 patients. RESULTS: The structure and function relationship and underlying molecular mechanism of lentinan as an immunostimulant has been summarized. The mean value of overall response rate in treating lung cancer was increased from 43.3% of chemotherapy alone to 56.9% of lentinan plus chemotherapy [p < 0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.102-0.170]. Compared with chemotherapy alone, lentinan plus chemotherapy showed more efficacy in treating lung cancer (pooled RR 0.79, 95% CI 0.74-0.85) and no statistical heterogeneity was found among studies (I2 = 11%). CONCLUSION: Clinical data presented in the past 12 years shows that lentinan is effective not only in improving quality of life, but also in promoting the efficacy of chemotherapy during lung cancer treatment.

Overview of Ganoderma sinense polysaccharide-an adjunctive drug used during concurrent Chemo/Radiation therapy for cancer treatment in China.

Ganoderma sinense or "Chinese Lingzhi" is a well-known medicinal fungus in China for more than 2000 years. Polysaccharide is the main immunomodulatory and antitumor component in G. sinense. In 2010, G. sinense polysaccharide (GSP) tablet is approved as an adjunctive therapeutic drug in China for treating leukopenia and hematopoietic injury caused by concurrent chemo/radiation therapy during cancer treatment by the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). ß-glucan, an established immunostimulant, is one of the components in GSP. Based on CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure), VIP (Chongqing VIP Chinese Scientific Journals Database), Wanfang database, and PubMed searches, we have not only summarized but also translated all the basic and preclinical studies about GSP published in Chinese into English in this review article. Unfortunately, all the clinical studies about GSP tablet could not be found during the search or by contacting the drug manufacturers. However, both basic and preclinical studies showed that GSP has antitumor, antioxidant, anticytopenia, and unique mushroom-poison detoxification properties that are different from that of G. lucidum polysaccharide, another "Lingzhi" polysaccharide. The structure and molecular mechanisms of GSP are also discussed. This article urges availability of clinical study results of GSP tablet that would allow in-depth evaluation if the tablet is appropriate to serve as an immunomodulatory drug during cancer therapy at world stage.

Preclinical and clinical studies of Coriolus versicolor polysaccharopeptide as an immunotherapeutic in China.

Conventional cancer treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. In recent years, immunotherapy in cancer care has been gaining momentum. Interestingly, an immunotherapeutic regime that employs polysaccharopeptide (PSP), a unique peptide-containing polysaccharide isolated from Coriolus versicolor, has already become a routine clinical practice in Japan since 1977 and in China since 1987. Coriolus versicolor is one of the most well-known traditional food and medicinal mushrooms in China for thousands of years. Medically used PSP is mostly obtained from the extraction of cultured Coriolus versicolor mycelia where ß-glucan is the major component. PSP has proven beneficial to survival and quality of life not only for cancer patients but also for patients with hepatitis, hyperlipidemia, and other chronic diseases. In this article, the results of PSP-related preclinical and clinical studies conducted in China from over 40 independent studies during the past 40 years based on searching the Chinese VIP, CNKI, and Wanfang databases are presented. Its immunomodulatory and anti-tumor molecular mechanisms are also summarized. PSP activates immune cells, increases the expressions of cytokines and chemokines such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukins (IL-1ß and IL-6), histamine, and prostaglandin E, enhances dendritic and T-cell infiltration into tumors, and ameliorates the adverse events associated with chemotherapy. The clinical studies support PSP being a potential immunotherapeutic. However, the complicated chemical and multiple pharmacological properties of PSP need to be investigated further.

[Research progress of new antibacterial drugs that target bacterial quorum sensing systems].

In recent years, antibiotic resistance of bacteria has become a global health crisis. Especially, the new class of "superbug" was found in South Asia, which is resistant to almost known antibiotics and causes worldwide alarm. Through the underlying mechanisms of bacterial pathogenecity, the expression of many pathogen virulence factors is regulated by the process of quorum sensing. Screening efficient quorum sensing inhibitors is an especially compelling approach to the future treatment of bacterial infections and antibiotic resistance. This article focuses on bacterial quorum sensing system, quorum sensing screening model for in vitro and evaluation of animal models in vivo, recent research of quorum sensing inhibitors and so on.