Shiitake

Lentinula edulus

PREBIOTICS, ESSENTIAL AMINOACIDS, POLYSACCHARIDES, β-GLUCANS, POLYPHENOLS.

TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE-ADAPTOGENESIS

TONIFIES QI AND INVIGORATES BLOOD

MERIDIANS: SPLEEN, STOMACH, LIVER, LUNGS

ASSOCIATED ELEMENTS: WATER EARTH WOOD METAL

 Shiitake is a basidiomycete that decomposes wood and then grows inside the dead or dying tree of various species such as chestnut, beech, oak, Japanese alder, and mulberry. It prefers moist, shady areas and is native to China and Japan. The mushrooms are harvested in the fall, before winter and in the spring when the reproductive cycle is stimulated and they emerge through the bark of trees.Edible mushrooms such as shiitake have been used in folk and ethnic medicine, which considers them legendary and still are today for their immune-stimulating properties. They contain as many as 18 amino acids including essential ones, β-glucans, high molecular weight polysaccharides, polyphenols with antioxidant effect, linoleic acid, fiber, minerals, sterols, triterpenes and glycoproteins.

In particular, attention focused on β-glucans after Chiara and Hamuro isolated from Shiitake in 1968 a β-glucan with antitumor activity later named Lentinan.One of its components Erythadenine is able to lower blood cholesterol, acting not on the inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis but by accelerating its excretion and excretion metabolism.The antioxidant action of Shiitake has a profile of interest not only in general but also specifically with regard to lipid peroxidation.

β-glucans in particular from Shiitake have also been shown to be very effective at the level of oral health in gingivitis and in situations of oral cavity distress in general.Periodontal lesions in chronic periodontitis in particular are associated with a predominant subgingival microbiota from anaerobic gram-negative rods, spirochetes, and other microorganisms. Chronic periodontitis is a complex process itself involving periodontal microorganisms and the immune system.The use of certain immunomodulating agents can stimulate immune response defenses and activate macrophages and neutrophils. Beta-glucans in general manifest immunomodulatory effects, and since macrophage activation is positively affected, we can speculate that the tissue destruction observed in periodontal disease may be inhibited by the use of this immunomodulatory agent.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hamuro J, Chihara G. Immunopotentiation by the antitumor polysaccharide lentin- an, its immunopharmacology and physiology. In: The reticuloendoyhelial system. Vol. 8 (Hadden JW, Szentivanyl A, eds) Plenum Publ., New York, 1985, pp. 285-307

Zákány J, Chihara G, Fachet J. Effect of lentinan on tumor growth in murine alloge- neic and syngeneic hosts. International Journal of Cancer 1980;25(3) 371-376.

Suga T, Shiio T, Maeda YY, Chihara G. Antitumor activity of lentinan in murine syn- geneic and autochthonous hosts and its suppressive effect on 3-methylcholanthreneinduced carcinogenesis. Cancer Research 1984;44(11) 5132-5137

Yasukawa K. Medicinal and edible plants as cancer preventive agents. In: Vallisuta O, Olimat SM (eds) Drug Discovery Research in Pharmacognosy. Rijeka: InTech; 2012. p181-208

Wasser SP and Weis AL. Medicinal properties of substances occurring in higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms: current perspectives (review). Int J Med Mushr 1999;1:31-62.

Kaminaga T, Yasukawa K, Takido M, Tai T, Nunoura Y. Inhibitory effect of Poria co- cos on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced ear oedema and tumor pro- motion in mouse skin. Phytotherapy Research 1996;10(7) 581-584.

Bartova J., Kratka O.Z., Prochazkova J., Krejsa O., Duskova J., Mrklas L., Tlaskalova H.,& Cukrowska B. (2000). Th1 and Th2 cytokine profile in patients with early onset periodontitis and their healthy siblings. Mediators of Inflammation, Vol:9, pp.115-120, ISSN:0962-9351.

Hobbs C. Medicinal Mushrooms. An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, and Culture, 2nd Ed. Botanica Press, Inc.: Santa Cruz, CA, USA. 1995.

Hobbs C. Medicinal value of Lentinus edodes (Berk.) Sing. A literature review. Int J Med Mushr 2000;2:87-302.

Chan G.C., Chan W.K., & Sze D.M. (2009). The effects of ????-glucan on human immune and cancer cells. J Hematol Oncol, Vol:2, pp.25-36, ISSN:1756-8722.

Kitzberger CSG, Smânia Jr. A, Pedrosa RC, Ferreira SRS. 2007. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of shiitake (Lentinula edodes) extracts obtained by organic solvents and supercritical fluids. J Food Eng. 5;80(2):631-8.

M. Albandar, "Global risk factors and risk indicators for periodontal diseases," Periodontology 2000, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 177-206, 2002.

Tanner, M. F. J. Maiden, P. J. Macuch, L. L. Murray, and R. L. Kent, "Microbiota of health, gingivitis, and initial periodontitis,"

Journal of Clinical Periodontology, vol. 25, no. 2, pp. 85-98, 1998.

 Regula and A. Gramza-Michalowska, "New cereal food products with dried shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes). added as a source of selected nutrients," Italian Journal of Food Science, vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 292-297, 2010.

 Lena Ciric, Anna Tymon, Egija Zaura, Peter Lingstr¨om, Monica Stauder,Adele Papetti, Caterina Signoretto, Jonathan Pratten,MichaelWilson,and David Spratt In Vitro Assessment of ShiitakeMushroom(Lentinula edodes) Extract for Its Antigingivitis Activity, Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology Volume 2011, Article ID 507908, 7 pages doi:10.1155/2011/507908