Oyster mushroom

Purported Benefits, Side Effects & More
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Oyster mushroom

Purported Benefits, Side Effects & More
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Oyster mushroom

Common Names

  • Brown oyster mushroom
  • Hao gu

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For Patients & Caregivers

Tell your healthcare providers about any dietary supplements you’re taking, such as herbs, vitamins, minerals, and natural or home remedies. This will help them manage your care and keep you safe.

What is it?

Oyster mushroom has not been shown to treat cancer in humans.



Oyster mushroom is an edible fungus. It is used in traditional medicine to treat high cholesterol, infections, diabetes, and cancer. Lab experiments suggest cholesterol-lowering, antifungal, and antitumor properties.

Studies in human are limited however. One study did not show cholesterol-lowering effects. Other small studies suggest potential benefit in patients with impaired glucose tolerance or type 2 diabetes, but more studies are needed.

What are the potential uses and benefits?
  • Cancer

    Although animal studies suggest some benefit, no such studies have been done in humans.
  • Antifungal

    Lab studies suggest that oyster mushroom has antifungal activity.
  • High fat levels in the blood

    Although animal studies suggest benefit, a clinical trial in HIV patients with high cholesterol levels caused by antiretroviral treatment did not.
  • Diabetes

    Oyster mushroom may lower blood sugar levels and increase insulin levels, but more studies are needed to confirm these effects.
What are the side effects?

Case reports

  • Occupational asthma, widespread lung inflammation, severe allergic reaction: Following exposure to oyster mushroom spores.
  • Nausea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and chest pain: In a 31-year old woman, 2 hours after eating oyster mushrooms. An allergy test and complete resolution after treatment confirmed this as the source of her reactions.
What else do I need to know?

Do Not Take if:

  • You are allergic to mushrooms.
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For Healthcare Professionals

Scientific Name
Pleurotus ostreatus
Clinical Summary

Oyster mushroom is an edible fungus found widely in North America and Europe. It is used in traditional medicine to treat infections, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and cancer.

Preclinical studies suggest antitumor (1) (7) (8) (9) (12) (13), immunomodulatory (10) (11), antifungal (2), lipid-lowering, and hypoglycemic (3) (6) properties. Beneficial effects are due to constituents such as polysaccharides, lectins, and peptides.

Studies in humans are limited. Oyster mushroom improved postprandial metabolism in patients with impaired glucose tolerance (22) and exhibited hypoglycemic activity in diabetic patients (19). However, it did not lower non-HDL cholesterol in a study of HIV patients with antiretroviral treatment-induced hypercholesterolemia (5). Other small studies suggest that pleuran, a beta-glucan isolated from oyster mushroom, may have anti-allergic effects in children with respiratory tract infections (18).

Food Sources

Oyster mushroom is an edible fungus, available both in fresh and dried forms. The whole mushroom is often used in soups and sauces.

Purported Uses and Benefits
  • Cancer
  • Diabetes
  • Hyperlipidemia
  • Infections
Mechanism of Action

Pleurostrin, a peptide derived from the fruiting bodies of oyster mushroom, exhibit antifungal properties (2). The compound mevinolin decreased cholesterol biosynthesis by inhibiting HMG CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol biosynthesis (3). Suggested hypoglycemic mechanisms include increased glucokinase activity and insulin secretion, which increases glucose utilization by peripheral tissues, inhibits glycogen synthase kinase, and promotes glycogen synthesis (19).

A lectin isolated from the fruiting bodies of oyster mushroom demonstrated antitumor activity in mice bearing sarcoma and hepatoma (1). Another study found development of precancerous aberrant crypt foci significantly reduced in mice fed a diet containing 10% pleuran, an isolated beta-glucan (4). RNase Po1, a guanylic acid-specific ribonuclease from oyster mushroom induced apoptosis in tumor cells (18).

The compound ostreolysin caused bradycardia, myocardial ischemia, and ventricular extrasystoles following intravenous injection in mice (14).

Contraindications

Hypersensitivity to oyster mushrooms

Adverse Reactions

Case reports

  • Occupational asthma, allergic alveolitis, and or anaphylaxis: Following exposure to oyster mushroom spores (15) (16) (20) (23).
  • Acute coronary syndrome: In a 31-year old woman 2 hours after the ingestion of oyster mushroom (21).
Dosage (OneMSK Only)
References
  1. Wang H, Gao J, Ng TB. A new lectin with highly potent antihepatoma and antisarcoma activities from the oyster mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2000; 275(3):810-816.
  2. Chu KT, Xia L, Ng TB. Pleurostrin, an antifungal peptide from the oyster mushroom. Peptides 2005 Jul;66(1):1-8.
  3. Hossain S, et al. Dietary mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) ameliorates atherogenic lipid in hypercholesterolaemic rats. Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol 2003; 30(7):470-475.
  4. Bobek P and Galbavy S. Effect of pleuran (beta-glucan from Pleurotus ostreatus) on the antioxidant status of the organism and on dimethylhydrazine-induced precancerous lesions in rat colon. Br J Biomed Sci 2001; 58(3):164-168.
  5. Abrams DI, Couey P, Shade SB, et al. Antihyperlipidemic effects of Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushrooms) in HIV-infected individuals taking antiretroviral therapy. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2011 Aug 10;11:60.
  6. Chorvathova V, et al. Effect of oyster fungus on glycaemia and cholesterolaemia in rats with insulin-dependent diabetes. Physiol Res 1993; 42(6):175-9.
  7. Wasonga CG, Okoth SA, Mukuria JC, Omwandho CO. Mushroom polysaccharide extracts delay progression of carcinogenesis in mice. J Exp Ther Oncol. 2008;7(2):147-52.
  8. Jedinak A, Sliva D. Pleurotus ostreatus inhibits proliferation of human breast and colon cancer cells through p53-dependent as well as p53-independent pathway. Int J Oncol. 2008 Dec;33(6):1307-13.
  9. Chen JN, Wang YT, Wu JS. A glycoprotein extracted from golden oyster mushroom Pleurotus citrinopileatus exhibiting growth inhibitory effect against U937 leukemia cells. J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Aug 12;57(15):6706-11.
  10. Shlyakhovenko V, Kosak V, Olishevsky S. Application of DNA from mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus for cancer biotherapy: a pilot study. Exp Oncol. 2006 Jun;28(2):132-5.
  11. Sarangi I, Ghosh D, Bhutia SK, et al. Anti-tumor and immunomodulating effects of Pleurotus ostreatus mycelia-derived proteoglycans. Int Immunopharmacol. 2006 Aug;6(8):1287-97.
  12. Martin KR, Brophy SK. Commonly consumed and specialty dietary mushrooms reduce cellular proliferation in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells. Exp Biol Med (Maywood). 2010 Nov;235(11):1306-14.
  13. Jedinak A, Dudhgaonkar S, Jiang J, Sandusky G, Sliva D. Pleurotus ostreatus inhibits colitis-related colon carcinogenesis in mice. Int J Mol Med. 2010 Nov;26(5):643-50.
  14. Zuzek MC, Macek P, Sepciæ K, Cestnik V, Frangez R. Toxic and lethal effects of ostreolysin, a cytolytic protein from edible oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus), in rodents. Toxicon. 2006 Sep 1;48(3):264-71.
  15. Vereda A, Quirce S, Fernández-Nieto M, Bartolomé B, Sastre J. Occupational asthma due to spores of Pleurotus ostreatus. Allergy. 2007 Feb;62(2):211-2.
  16. Mori S, Nakagawa-Yoshida K, Tsuchihashi H, et al. Mushroom worker’s lung resulting from indoor cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus. Occup Med (Lond). 1998 Oct;48(7):465-8.
  17. Kobayashi H, Motoyoshi N, Itagaki T, et al. The inhibition of human tumor cell proliferation by RNase Pol, a member of the RNase T1 family, from Pleurotus ostreatus. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2013;77(7):1486-91.
  18. Jesenak M, Hrubisko M, Majtan J, Rennerova Z, Banovcin P. Anti-allergic effect of pleuran (β-glucan from Pleurotus ostreatus) in children with recurrent respiratory tract infections. Phytother Res. 2014 Mar;28(3):471-4.
  19. Jayasuriya WJ, Wanigatunge CA, Fernando GH, et al. Hypoglycaemic activity of culinary Pleurotus ostreatus and P. cystidiosus mushrooms in healthy volunteers and type 2 diabetic patients on diet control and the possible mechanisms of action. Phytother Res. Feb 2015;29(2):303-309.
  20. Baldassarre A, Dragonieri S, Luisi V, et al. Occupational asthma in a fruit and vegetables vendor. Med Lav. Mar 24 2016;107(2):87-91.
  21. Tepetam FM, Dagdeviren B, Bulut I, et al. A patient with mushroom allergy; a new etiological agent of Kounis syndrome. Tuberk Toraks. Jun 2016;64(2):171-174.
  22. Dicks L, Jakobs L, Sari M, et al. Fortifying a meal with oyster mushroom powder beneficially affects postprandial glucagon-like peptide-1, non-esterified free fatty acids and hunger sensation in adults with impaired glucose tolerance: a double-blind randomized controlled crossover trial. Eur J Nutr. Mar 2022;61(2):687-701.
  23. Branicka O, Rozłucka L, Gawlik R. A case of anaphylactic reaction following oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) inhalation. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. Aug 5 2021;34(4):575-579.
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