Novel Medicinal Mushroom Blend as a Promising Supplement in Integrative Oncology: A Multi-Tiered Study using 4T1 Triple-Negative Mouse Breast Cancer Model.

Although medicinal mushroom extracts have been proposed as promising anti-cancer agents, their precise impacts on metastatic breast cancer are still to be clarified. For this purpose, the present study exploited the effect of a novel medicinal mushroom blend, namely Micotherapy U-care, in a 4T1 triple-negative mouse breast cancer model. Mice were orally administered with Micotherapy U-care, consisting of a mixture of Agaricus blazei, Ophiocordyceps sinensis, Ganoderma lucidum, Grifola frondosa, and Lentinula edodes. The syngeneic tumor-bearing mice were generated by injecting 4T1 cells in both supplemented and non-supplemented mice. After sacrifice 25 days later, specific endpoints and pathological outcomes of the murine pulmonary tissue were evaluated. (i) Histopathological and ultrastructural analysis and (ii) immunohistochemical assessment of TGF-ß1, IL-6 and NOS2, COX2, SOD1 as markers of inflammation and oxidative stress were performed. The QoL was comparatively evaluated. Micotherapy U-care supplementation, starting before 4T1 injection and lasting until the end of the experiment, dramatically reduced the pulmonary metastases density, also triggering a decrease of fibrotic response, and reducing IL-6, NOS, and COX2 expression. SOD1 and TGF-ß1 results were also discussed. These findings support the valuable potential of Micotherapy U-care as adjuvant therapy in the critical management of triple-negative breast cancer.

The Gut-Brain Axis in Alzheimer's Disease and Omega-3. A Critical Overview of Clinical Trials.

Despite intensive study, neurodegenerative diseases remain insufficiently understood, precluding rational design of therapeutic interventions that can reverse or even arrest the progressive loss of neurological function. In the last decade, several theories investigating the causes of neurodegenerative diseases have been formulated and a condition or risk factor that can contribute is described by the gut-brain axis hypothesis: stress, unbalanced diet, and drugs impact altering microbiota composition which contributes to dysbiosis. An altered gut microbiota may lead to a dysbiotic condition and to a subsequent increase in intestinal permeability, causing the so-called leaky-gut syndrome. Herein, in this review we report recent findings in clinical trials on the risk factor of the gut-brain axis in Alzheimer's disease and on the effect of omega-3 supplementation, in shifting gut microbiota balance towards an eubiosis status. Despite this promising effect, evidences reported in selected randomized clinical trials on the effect of omega-3 fatty acid on cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease are few. Only Mild Cognitive Impairment, a prodromal state that could precede the progress to Alzheimer's disease could be affected by omega-3 FA supplementation. We report some of the critical issues which emerged from these studies. Randomized controlled trials in well-selected AD patients considering the critical points underlined in this review are warranted.