Agaricus bisporus-derived ß-glucan enter macrophages and adipocytes by CD36 receptor.

ß-glucans are a heterogeneous group of natural polysaccharides. They are ubiquitously found in bacterial or fungal cell walls, cereals, seaweed, and mushrooms. The beneficial role of ß-glucan in tumor, insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and obesity is being continuously documented. Ample evidence showed that ß-glucan could act on several receptors, such as Dectin, complement receptor (CR3), TLR-2, 4, 6 and scavenger. Based on the above, we wanted to explore whether agaricus bisporus-derived ß-glucan acted on these receptors on Raw 264.7 macrophages and 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

Immune Pharmacodynamic Responses of the Novel Cancer Immunotherapeutic Imprime PGG in Healthy Volunteers.

Imprime PGG (Imprime) is an i.v. administered, yeast ß-1,3/1,6 glucan in clinical development with checkpoint inhibitors. Imprime-mediated innate immune activation requires immune complex formation with naturally occurring IgG anti-ß glucan Abs (ABA). We administered Imprime to healthy human volunteers to assess the necessity of ABA for Imprime-mediated immunopharmacodynamic (IPD) changes. Imprime (4 mg/kg) was administered i.v. in single and multiple infusions. Subsets of subjects were premedicated with antihistamine and corticosteroid. Peripheral blood was measured before, during and after Imprime administration for IPD changes (e.g., ABA, circulating immune complexes, complement activation, complete blood counts, cytokine/chemokine, and gene expression changes). IPD changes were analyzed based on pretreatment serum ABA levels: low-ABA (<20 µg/ml), mid-ABA (≥20-50 µg/ml), and high-ABA (≥50 µg/ml). At the end of infusion, free serum ABA levels decreased, circulating immune complex levels increased, and complement activation was observed. At ∼1-4 h after end of infusion, increased expression of cytokines/chemokines, a 1.5-4-fold increase in neutrophil and monocyte counts and a broad activation of innate immune genes were observed. Low-ABA subjects typically showed minimal IPD changes except when ABA levels rose above 20 µg/ml after repeated Imprime dosing. Mild-to-moderate infusion-related reactions occurred in subjects with ABA ≥20 µg/ml. Premedications alleviated some of the infusion-related reactions, but also inhibited cytokine responses. In conclusion, ABA levels, being critical for Imprime-mediated immune activation may provide a plausible, mechanism-based biomarker to identify patients most likely to respond to Imprime-based anticancer immunotherapy.

Optimization of Hericium erinaceus polysaccharide-loaded Poly (lactic-co-glycolicacid) nanoparticles by RSM and its absorption in Caco-2 cell monolayers.

In present study, HEP was successfully encapsulated into the Poly (lactic-coglycolicacid) (PLGA) to constitute the HEP-PLGA. The effects of three independent factors (the proper range of ratio of organic phase (o) to internal water phase (w1) (X1), ratio of external water phase (w2) to the primary emulsion (PE) (X2), and the concentration of PLGA (X3) on the extraction yield of encapsulation efficiency (EE) from the HEP was optimized using response surface methodology. The optimal extraction conditions for HEP-PLGA were determined as follows: X1: 8:1, X2: 7:1 and X3: 20 mg·mL-1. Under these optimal conditions, the mean experimental EE 90.86 ±â€¯0.576% was corresponded well with the predicted value of 91.81%. In addition, to investigate the transport properties of HEP and HEP-PLGA using a Caco-2 cell monolayer, and study the roles of the efflux transporters (P-gp) during the transport process. These results suggested that HEP can be absorbed more efficiently when encapsulated within the PLGA. These findings highlight the potential to the application of HEP in the formulation of functional foods. These results provide strategies in designing high absorbed polysaccharides with bioactive benefits.

Preparation, characterization and bioactivities of Athelia rolfsii exopolysaccharide-zinc complex (AEPS-zinc).

A new Athelia rolfsii exopolysaccharides (AEPS) were purified by Sephacryl S-300 and S-200. The physicochemical characteristics of AEPS fractions were assayed by HPGPC and GC methods. The structures of AEPS and AEPS­zinc complex were characterized by SEM, FTIR and NMR. Moreover, the bioactivities of complex were also evaluated by experiments in vitro and in vivo. AEPSI consisted of glucose, galacturonic acid, talose, galactose, mannose and xylose, the relative contents of them were 24.74, 19.60, 33.65, 8.77, 7.97 and 5.28%, respectively. AEPSII consisted of glucose, inositol, galacturonic acid, ribitol, gluconic acid, talose and xylose, whose relative contents were 36.06, 21.21, 12.78, 11.07, 6.58, 5.45 and 6.82%, respectively. The Mw and Mn of AEPSI were 6.1324×104 and 1.4218×104Da, those of AEPSII were 517 and 248Da. SEM observations showed that microstructures of AEPS and AEPS­zinc complex were obviously different both in size and shape. FTIR and NMR analysis indicated that AEPS might chelate with zinc ion through hydroxy and carboxy group. In vitro experiments showed that AEPS­zinc complex had a good bioavailability, in vivo experiments showed that it had good effect on improving zinc deficiency and antioxidant activities, which suggested that it could be used as zinc supplementation with high antioxidant activities.

Safety Assessment of Microbial Polysaccharide Gums as Used in Cosmetics.

The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel assessed the safety of 34 microbial polysaccharide gums for use in cosmetics, finding that these ingredients are safe in cosmetic formulations in the present practices of use and concentration. The microbial polysaccharide gums named in this report have a variety of reported functions in cosmetics, including emulsion stabilizer, film former, binder, viscosity-increasing agent, and skin-conditioning agent. The Panel reviewed available animal and clinical data in making its determination of safety.

Traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and quality control of Polyporus umbellatus (Pers.) Fries: a review.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: Polyporus umbellatus (Pers.) Fries (Polyporaceae, Zhuling ) has been commonly used in medicine for a wide range of ailments related to the edema, scanty urine, vaginal discharge, urinary dysfunction, as well as jaundice and diarrhea. AIM OF THE REVIEW: The present paper reviewed the traditional uses, propagation, phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacokinetics and quality control of Polyporus umbellatus. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All the available information on Polyporus umbellatus was collected via a library and electronic search (using Web of Science, Pubmed, ScienceDirect, Splinker, Google Scholar, etc.). RESULTS: Phytochemical studies showed the presence of many valuable secondary metabolites such as steroids, polysaccharides, anthraquinones and nucleosides. Crude extracts and isolated compounds showed a wide spectrum of pharmacological activities including diuretic, nephroprotective, anti-cancer, immuno-enhancing, hepatoprotective, anti-inflammatory and antioxidative activities. The pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated that the ergosterol and ergone had a high distribution and absorption in the plasma and the two main components of Polyporus umbellatus were mainly excreted by faeces. The determination of multiple chemical components was successfully applied to the quality control of Polyporus umbellatus. CONCLUSIONS: Modern phytochemical, pharmacological and metabonomic investigations showed that the crude extracts and isolated compounds from Polyporus umbellatus possess many kinds of biological functions, especially in the diuretic activities and the treatment of kidney diseases as well as anti-cancer, immuno-enhancing and hepatoprotective activities. The pathways of the distribution, absorption, metabolism and excretion of main steroidal compounds were clarified by pharmacokinetic studies. Most of the pharmacological studies were conducted using crude and poorly characterized extracts of Polyporus umbellatus in animals especially in case of diuretic activities and the treatment of kidney diseases. Thus, more bioactive components especially diuretic compounds should be identified using bioactivity-guided isolation strategies and the possible mechanism of action as well as potential synergistic or antagonistic effects of multi-component mixtures derived from Polyporus umbellatus need to be evaluated integrating pharmacological, pharmacokinetic, bioavailability-centered and physiological approaches. In addition, more experiments including in vitro, in vivo and clinical studies should be encouraged to identify any side effects or toxicity. These achievements will further expand the existing therapeutic potential of Polyporus umbellatus and provide a beneficial support to its future further clinical use in modern medicine.