Coriolus Versicolor

Coriolus versicolor is thought to be a biological response modifier. PSK has been found to induce cytokine expression in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro. In other studies, PSP, as well as a Coriolus extract, selectively induced apoptosis of human promyelocytic leukemia HL-60 cells ^(13) (23). PSP also increased apoptotic cell death in cells that had been treated with camptothecin. In these cells, PSP reduced cellular proliferation, inhibited cell progression through both the S and G2 phases of DNA replication, reduced 3H - thymidine uptake, and prolonged DNA synthesis time ⁽¹⁴⁾. An additional in vitro study showed that a medicinal mushroom blend that included Coriolus inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase in the invasive human breast cancer cell line MDA-MB-231 ⁽¹⁵⁾. DNA-microarray analysis indicates that the mushroom extract inhibits expression of cell cycle regulatory genes and suppresses metastatic behavior via inhibition of cell adhesion, migration, and invasion . The inhibition of metastatic behavior was linked to suppression of urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) ⁽¹⁵⁾. PSP also inhibits interaction between HIV-1 gp120 and CD4 receptor, HIV-1 transcriptase activity, and glycohydrolase enzyme activity associated with viral glycosylation ⁽¹⁶⁾.

Several animal studies report synergy between PSK and biologic therapies, including a concanavalin A-bound L1210 vaccine and the IgG2a monoclonal antibody against human colon cancer cells ⁽¹⁷⁾. PSP induces cytokine production and T-cell proliferation, and prevents cyclophosphamide-induced immune suppression. Peritoneal macrophages isolated from PSP-fed mice show increased production of reactive nitrogen intermediates, superoxide anions, and tumor necrosis factor ⁽¹⁸⁾. PSP also shows analgesic activity in mouse models ⁽¹⁹⁾.

After consumption of PSP, non-small cell lung cancer patients have increased leukocyte and neutrophil counts, and increased serum IgG and IgM  ⁽⁶⁾. Healthy volunteers as well as breast cancer patients who used a formula containing Coriolus and Salvia were found to have elevated counts of T-helper lymphocytes (CD4+), a high ratio of CD4+/CD8+, and elevated absolute counts of B-lymphocytes ^(7) (8). TNF-alpha and IL-8 gene expression were also found to be significantly induced after PSK administration in healthy volunteers and gastric cancer patients, although individual response varied ⁽²⁰⁾. PSK was shown to induce apoptosis in promyelomonocytic leukemia HL-60 cells without inducing differentiation, and p38 MAPK (mitogen-activated protein kinas) was found to play an important role in this process ⁽²⁴⁾.