Effects of Mexican Ganoderma lucidum extracts on liver, kidney, and the gut microbiota of Wistar rats: A repeated dose oral toxicity study.

Well-characterized and standardized extracts of a Mexican genotype of Ganoderma lucidum (Gl), a medicinal mushroom, cultivated on oak sawdust (Gl-1) or oak sawdust plus acetylsalicylic acid (Gl-2, ASA), have been shown to exert antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic, anti-inflammatory, prebiotic, and anticancer properties. However, toxicity analyses still need to be carried out. Different doses of these Gl-1 or Gl-2 extracts were administered to Wistar rats for 14 days in a repeated dose oral toxicity study. We assessed the external clinical signs, biochemical parameters, liver and kidney tissues, injury and inflammation biomarkers, gene expression, inflammatory responses, proinflammatory mediators, and gut microbiota. Gl extracts had no significant adverse, toxic or harmful effects on male and female rats compared to the control groups. No injury or dysfunction were recorded in the kidney or liver, as there were no significant abnormal variations in organ weight, tissue histopathology, serum biochemical parameters (C-reactive protein, creatinine, urea, glucose, ALT and AST transaminases, TC, LDL-c, TG, HDL-c), urinary parameters (creatinine, urea nitrogen, albumin, the albumin-to-creatinine ratio, glucose), injury and inflammatory biomarkers (KIM-1/TIM-1, TLR4, and NF-кB protein expression; IL-1ß, TNF-α and IL-6 gene expression), or the expression of genes linked to cholesterol metabolism (HMG-CoA, Srebp2, Ldlr). Gl-1 and Gl-2 extracts showed prebiotic effects on the gut microbiota of male and female Wistar rats. Bacterial diversity and relative bacterial abundance (BRA) increased, positively modulating the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio. The ASA (10 mM) added to the substrate used for mushroom cultivation changed properties and effects of the Gl-2 extract on Wistar rats. The no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) was 1000 mg/kg body weight/day of Gl-1 or Gl-2 extracts. Clinical trials are recommended for further exploring the potential therapeutic applications of studied extracts.

Dietary Supplementation with Oyster Culinary-Medicinal Mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus (Agaricomycetes), Reduces Visceral Fat and Hyperlipidemia in Inhabitants of a Rural Community in Mexico.

The abandonment of traditional foods in the Mexican diet is one of the causes for the increase in diseases associated with obesity. Edible mushrooms have been a part of the Mexican diet since pre-Hispanic times. There is clear evidence that Pleurotus ostreatus (Po) contains bioactive compounds that have beneficial health effects. In the present study, we carried out a 3-month nutritional intervention in which we randomized 30 participants into two groups: one that consumed a healthy diet with regional foods without the inclusion of edible mushrooms (HD, n = 15) and one that consumed a healthy diet with regional foods alongside 1 kg of P. ostreatus (four portions of 250 g) per week (HD+ P. ostreatus, n = 15). We evaluated anthropometric measurements, lipid parameters, glucose levels, and blood pressure in inhabitants of San Miguel Tianguistenco, Puebla, a rural area of Mexico. For the HD group, the triglyceride levels decreased in women and the glucose levels decreased in men, and in the HD+ P. ostreatus group, visceral fat, glucose, triglyceride, and cholesterol levels decreased in women, and glucose and triglyceride levels decreased in men. Analysis of the intake of macro- and micronutrients in the community showed a high intake of energy, fat, and sugar, and a low intake of fiber, B complex vitamins, and minerals, indicators of an unbalanced diet. It is essential to create strategies that promote the inclusion of edible mushrooms as a part of a heathy diet in rural areas of Mexico to improve the actual health and nutrition of the residents.

Traditional Mushroom Consumption Associated to Lower Levels of Triglycerides and Blood Pressure in an Indigenous Peasant Community from Oaxaca, Mexico.

Traditional consumption of edible mushrooms is supported by ethnomycological studies worldwide. However, the potential impact of mushroom consumption on the nutritional and health status of remote rural communities has not yet been studied. We carried out these initial standard studies in the indigenous peasant community of Benito Juarez, Oaxaca, Mexico. Participant adults (45) were grouped as follows: optimal body mass index (BMI: 17.8%), overweight (48.9%), obesity type I (24.5%), obesity type II (4.4%), and obesity type III (4.4%). A high proportion of women (90.3%) and men (64.3%) had a high risk of cardiovascular disease (WHI: waist/hip index). Most women (93.6%) and men (57.1%) showed abdominal obesity. In biochemical parameters, subjects had hypertriglyceridemia (75.6%), hypercholesterolemia (26.7%), hyperglycemia (53.3%), and hypertension (46.7%). There was an excessive intake in the diet of energy, proteins, carbohydrates, sugar, and lipids, as well as a deficiency in the consumption of several vitamins and minerals. A high frequency of mushroom consumption (> 3 times per week) was significantly correlated to lower energy, lipids, saturated fatty acids (SFA), and sodium intake, as well as to higher intake of cobalamin and zinc. The levels of triglycerides and diastolic blood pressure were significantly lower in adults consuming edible mushrooms every day. Total cholesterol also tended to be lower. These associations allow to promote healthier diets in remote indigenous communities by keeping or increasing the consumption of edible mushrooms, either wild or cultivated. Edible mushrooms can play a more important role in community nutrition and health, considering their unique functional and medicinal properties.

Hypocholesterolemic Properties and Prebiotic Effects of Mexican Ganoderma lucidum in C57BL/6 Mice.

Edible and medicinal mushrooms contain bioactive compounds with promising effects on several cardiovascular risk biomarkers. However, strains of Ganoderma lucidum of Mexican origin have not yet been studied. Standardized extracts of G. lucidum (Gl) were given to C57BL/6 mice fed a high-cholesterol diet compared with the drug simvastatin. The effects of the extracts on serum biochemical parameters, liver lipid content, cholesterol metabolism, and the composition of gut microbiota were assessed. Acetylsalicylic acid (10 mM) added to the cultivation substrate modulated properties of Gl extracts obtained from mature basidiomata. Compared to the high-cholesterol diet group, the consumption of Gl extracts significantly reduced total serum cholesterol (by 19.2% to 27.1%), LDL-C (by 4.5% to 35.1%), triglyceride concentration (by 16.3% to 46.6%), hepatic cholesterol (by 28.7% to 52%) and hepatic triglycerides (by 43.8% to 56.6%). These effects were associated with a significant reduction in the expression of lipogenic genes (Hmgcr, Srebp1c, Fasn, and Acaca) and genes involved in reverse cholesterol transport (Abcg5 and Abcg8), as well as an increase in Ldlr gene expression in the liver. No significant changes were observed in the gene expression of Srebp2, Abca1 or Cyp7a1. In several cases, Gl-1 or Gl-2 extracts showed better effects on lipid metabolism than the drug simvastatin. A proposed mechanism of action for the reduction in cholesterol levels is mediated by α-glucans and ß-glucans from Gl, which promoted decreased absorption of cholesterol in the gut, as well as greater excretion of fecal bile acids and cholesterol. The prebiotic effects of Gl-1 and Gl-2 extracts modulated the composition of gut microbiota and produced an increase in the Lactobacillaceae family and Lactobacillus genus level compared to the control group, high-cholesterol diet group and group supplemented with simvastatin. Mexican genetic resources of Gl represent a new source of bioactive compounds showing hypocholesterolemic properties and prebiotic effects.

Cultivo de diversas cepas mexicanas de Pleurotus ostreatus sobre pulpa de cafe y paja de cebada / Cultivation of several Mexican strains of Pleurotus ostreatus on coffee pulp and barley straw

Se cultivaron 10 cepas mexicanas de PlPleurotus ostreatus sobre pulpa de café y paja de cebada, las cuales se aislaron a partir de especímenes que crecían en forma silvestre sobre diversos substratos en al región de Xalapa. Ver. Las cepas variaron en cuanto a la producción de cuerpos fructíferos frescos y eficiencia biológicas obtenidas se registraron con la cepa INIREB-21 (138.13%) en la pulpa de café y con la cepa INIREB-26 (96.04%) en la paja de cebada. El tiempo para producir los primeros primordios de fructificación y para el desarrollo completo de los cuerpos fructíferos, fué menor en paja de cebada que en pulpa de café