The medicinal benefits of mushrooms have long been known and used. Active hexose correlated compound (AHCC™; from Maypro) is a functional food obtained from basidiomycetes mushrooms. A Japanese prospective cohort study was performed from Feb. 1, 1992 to Dec. 31, 2001 with 269 consecutive patients with histologically confirmed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).1 Of those, 113 received AHCC orally after undergoing curative surgery (AHCC group). The AHCC group had a significantly longer no recurrence period (P=0.0277) and an increased survival rate (P=0.0009) when compared to the control group by Cox’s multivariate analysis. The study concluded AHCC intake could improve the prognosis of postoperative HCC patients. Similarly, another study found AHCC improved the prognosis of HCC patients following surgical treatment.2 The prospective cohort study was performed with 44 patients with histologically confirmed liver cancer. Thirty-four patients received AHCC and 10 patients received a placebo (control) orally. Patients in the AHCC treated-group had a significantly prolonged survival when compared to the control group. Quality of life in terms of mental stability, general physical health status and the ability to have normal activities were significantly improved after three months of AHCC treatment. The apparent different clinical parameters between the two groups were the levels of albumin and percentage of lymphocytes. Unlike the control patients, AHCC treated-patients with longer survival time had the tendency of better outcomes since the levels of AST and ALT had not increased rapidly from their baselines at follow-up. The levels of total IL-12 and neopterin were slightly increased in AHCC treated-patients.
In a study at Drexel University, Philadelphia, young C57BL/6 mice were supplemented with 1 g of AHCC (from Maypro) for one week prior to and throughout infection with influenza A (H1N1, PR8).3 Supplementation increased survival, decreased the severity of infection and shortened recovery time following intranasal infection with flu. AHCC increased natural killer (NK) cell activity in the lungs at day one (P<0.05) and day four (P<0.01), and in the spleen at day two post-infection (P<0.01). Supplementation increased the percentage (P<0.05) and number (P<0.01) of NK1.11 cells in the lung and reduced the infiltration of lymphocytes and macrophages compared with controls (P<0.01). The study results suggested AHCC supplementation boosts NK activity, improves survival and reduces the severity of influenza infection in young mice.
Another mushroom with immunity-boosting abilities is Maitake. A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found a polysaccharide extract from Grifola frondosa (Maitake extract) was associated with measurable changes in the immunomodulatory cell counts in peripheral blood.4 In the phase I/II dose escalation trial, 30 menopausal breast cancer patients free of disease after initial treatment were enrolled sequentially into five cohorts of six patients each. Maitake extract was taken orally at 0.1, 0.5, 1.5, 3, or 5 mg/kg twice daily for three weeks. Quadratic dose curve analysis showed a daily dosage of 2 mg/kg was associated with the greatest increases of CD3+CD25+ or CD4+CD25+ T cells in the peripheral blood (P<0.001); a daily dosage of 6 mg/kg was associated with the most significant increases in intracellular IL-2 production by NK-T cells (P=0.002); IL-10 production by T cells (P=0.002). Interferon gamma production by memory CD4+ T cells was attenuated to 27 percent of baseline at a daily dose of 7.4 mg/kg (P=0.002).
A study at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington gave mice total body irradiation (TBI) followed by treatment with CorImmune™ (from Xenos Nutraceuticals Inc.), an extract powder of the cultured mycelia of the mushroom Cordyceps sinensis, or a normal saline (control).5 CorImmune was administered beginning two hours after a lethal dose of TBI. There was a 55-percent improvement in survival in the treatment group vs. zero percent in the saline control (P<0.0001). The supplement increased normal leukocyte levels in a dose-dependent fashion. Animals treated with sub-lethal TBI and monitored for blood leukocyte recovery exhibited a return to normal baseline three weeks after TBI injury. In contrast, only 50 percent returned to normal baseline in the saline control group (P<0.01).
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