[#1994-07] Maitake: Shimaoka, Iwao et al ‘Peptide’

EFFECTS OF A COPPER-BINDING PEPTIDE FROM THE MUSHROOM GRIFOLA FRONDOSA ON INTESTINAL COPPER ABSORPTION

Iwao Shimaoka, M.S.¹*, Sachiko Ishiyama, B.S.², Kohsuke Nishino, Ph.D.², Yoshinori Itokawa, Ph.D.’

‘Department of Environmental Medicine. Graduate Schoolof Medicine. KyotoUniversity, Kyoto, Japan²Department of Home Economics, Dohshisha Women’s College,Kyoto, Japan

ABSTRACT

The effect of a copper-binding peptide, purified previously from the fruit bodies of the mushroom, Grifola frondosa ( maitake ) , on copper absorption was investigated by using portal cannulated rats under unanesthetized and unrestrained conditions. When the copper-binding peptide was infused into the duodenum together with copper, the amount of copper in portal blood was significantly increased compared with the absence of this peptide. Furthermore, the remarkable accumulation of copper in the liver was also observed. These results suggest that the copper-binding peptide enhances copper intestinal absorption and accumulation in the liver.