Trichaptum abietinum from British Columbia exhibited anti-proliferative and immuno-modulatory activities

Increasing mortality rate and case of occurrence makes cancer a huge public health challenge in both developed and developing countries [1]. Toxicity, adverse effects, and non-specificity are some of the major problems with the current drugs used in cancer chemotherapy [2]. For centuries, mushrooms have been used for their medicinal properties by different cultures [3]. In the past few decades, several natural bioactive compounds from mushrooms have been reported to exhibit anti-cancer properties by means of anti-proliferation (reduced cell viability), immuno-stimulation (stimulating production of cytokines), apoptosis (programmed cell death) and anti-inflammation (inhibiting excess unregulated cytokine production) [3].

This study aims to investigate potential anti-cancer properties of a wood-decaying wild mushroom, Trichaptum abietinum (Ryvarden L., 1972) [Polyporaceae], which is native to British Columbia. Fresh fruiting bodies of T. abietinum obtained from the Forest for the World area in Prince George, British Columbia, were first identified by DNA sequencing. Powdered T. abietinum was subjected to a sequential extraction using 85% methanol, 50% ethanol, hot water and 5% sodium hydroxide. The extracts obtained were subjected to the anti-proliferative MTT assay on HeLa cells. The fractions were also subjected to ELISA, using macrophage Raw 264.7 cells, for assessment of immuno-stimulation and anti-inflammatory activities. At 5 µg/mL, the 85% ethanol fraction was found to inhibit the production of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha production from 4042pg/ml to 180.91pg/ml. At 5 µg/ml, hot water extract was found to be immuno-stimulant, inducing 2530.9pg/ml of TNF-alpha as compared to 3897pg/ml induced by LPS. The ethanol and hot water fraction exhibited anti-proliferative activity at 5 µg/mL by reducing cell viability to 60%. Future research involves purification and identification of the bioactive from 85% ethanol and hot water fraction.

Fractions from T. abietinum	Biological activity
85% Ethanol (at 5 µg/ml)	Exhibits Immuno-inhibition by inhibiting LPS induced TNF-alpha production from 4042pg/ml to 180.91pg/ml in Raw 264.7 cells Exhibits anti-proliferative activity by reducing 60% cell viability in HeLa cells.
Hot water (at 5 µg/ml)	Exhibits immuno-stimulation by inducing 2530.9 pg/ml TNF-alpha as compared to 3897pg/ml induced by LPS. Exhibits anti-proliferative activity by reducing 60% cell viability in HeLa cells

Acknowledgements: Dr. Keith Egger, Dr. Hugues Massicotte, Dr. Kerry Reimer and University of Northern British Columbia.

Keywords: Anti-proliferative, immuno-modulatory, Trichaptum abietinum, mushroom.

References:

[1] De Martel C, Ferlay J, Franceschi S, Vignat J, Bray F, Forman D, Plummer M. Global burden of cancer attribute to infections in 2008: a review and synthetic analysis. Lancet Oncol 2012; 13: 607 – 615

[2] Tipton MT. Side effects of cancer chemotherapy. Skeel, R.T. (ed.) Handbook of Cancer Chemotherapy. (7^th Edition). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. 2007; 27: 615 – 638

[3] Wasser SP. Review of Medicinal Mushroom Advances: Good News from Old Allies. HerbalGram 2002; 56: 28 – 33

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).