[#2002-09] Effects of Maitake mushroom f...

Effects of Maitake mushroom fractions on blood pressure of Zucker fatty rats Talpur N, Echard B, Dadgar A, Aggarwal S, Zhuang C, Bagchi D, Preuss HG. Department of Physiology, Medicine and Pathology, Georgetown University Medical Center A link exists between insulin resistance and many chronic disorders of aging including advancing-age. A safer means to prevent or, at least, slow the erosion of insulin sensitivity would provide a novel approach to better health. We compared the ability of a specific extract labeled fraction SX, as well as whole Maitake powder, fraction ES...

[#2002-08] Antihypertensive and metaboli...

Antihypertensive and metabolic effects of whole Maitake mushroom powder and its fractions in two rat strains Talpur NA, Echard BW, Fan AY, Jaffari O, Bagchi D, Preuss HG. Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Georgetown University Medical Center Maitake mushroom has been reported to favorably influence hypertension and diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of whole Maitake mushroom powder and two extracts designated as ether soluble (ES) and water soluble (WS) on Zucker fatty rats (ZFR), a model of insulin resistance, and on...

[#2002-07] Can Maitake MD-Fraction Aid C...

Can Maitake MD-Fraction Aid Cancer Patients? Noriko Kodama, PhD, Kiyoshi Komuta, MD, PhD, and Hiroaki Nanba, PhD Abstract Maitake mushroom (Grifola frondosa) MD-fraction containing beta-1,6 glucan with beta-1,3 branched chains has previously exhibited strong anticancer activity by increasing immune-competent cell activity.1,2 In this non­random case series, a combination of MD-fraction and whole maitake powder was investigated to determine its effectiveness for 22- to 57-year-old cancer patients in stages II-IV. Cancer regression or significant symptom improvement was...

[#2002-06] Effects of D-Fraction, a poly...

Effects of D-Fraction, a polysaccharide from Grifola frondosa on tumor growth involve activation of NK cells Kodama N, Komuta K, Sakai N, Nanba H. Department of Microbial Chemistry, Kobe Pharmaceutical University Natural killer (NK) cells are directly cytotoxic for tumor cells and play a primary role in regulating immune responses. We monitored levels of NK cell cytotoxic activity in cancer patients receiving D-Fraction extracted from maitake mushrooms (Grifola frondosa). Elevated levels of cytotoxic activity were maintained for one year. To elucidate the mechanisms...

[#2002-05] Maitake: Finkelstein, Michael...

Chemosensitization of carmustine with maitake β-glucan on androgen-independent prostatic cancer cells: involvement of glyoxalase I Finkelstein MP, Aynehchi S, Samadi AA, Drinis S, Choudhury MS, Tazaki H, Konno S. Department of Urology, New York Medical College OBJECTIVE: To improve the poor efficacy (< 10%) of chemotherapy for patients with hormone-refractory prostate cancer, we investigated a possible cytotoxic effect of carmustine/β-glucan combination on prostatic cancer PC-3 cells, focusing on a glutathione-dependent detoxifying enzyme, glyoxalase I...

[#2002-04] Maitake: Inoue, Atsuyuki et a...

Effect of maitake (Grifola frondosa) D-fraction on the control of the T lymph node Th-1/Th-2 proportion Inoue A, Kodama N, Nanba H. Department of Microbial Chemistry, Kobe Pharmaceutical University We have already reported that the D-Fraction, a β-glucan extracted from the fruiting body of the maitake mushroom (Grifola frondosa), activates cellular immunity and expresses anti-tumor effects. In this study we investigated the anti-tumor functions of D-Fraction in relation to its control of the balance between T lymphocyte subsets Th-1 and Th-2. D-Fraction decreased the...