Isolation of a wild Morchella spp. strain and the effects of its extract on ethanol-induced gastric mucosal lesions in rats.

A Morchella spp. strain was isolated from a wild morel mushroom, and the effects of its mycelia extract on the ethanol-induced gastric mucosal lesions of rats were investigated in vivo. Sequence analysis of internal transcribed spacer suggested that this Morchella spp. strain (strain No. M1) was clustered together with M. conica in the phylogenetic tree. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity increased significantly compared to the control. However, the malondialdehyde (MDA) level and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity decreased significantly compared to the control. These results indicated that M1 is one member of M. conica and the protective effects of M1 extract against the ethanol-induced gastric lesions may be related to the increased SOD activity and decreased MDA level and MPO activity in rats.