Comparison of the antitumor effect of the fruit body and the mycelia of Hanabiratake(Sparassis crispa)

Abstract

To our knowledge, this is the first study in which the antitumor effect of the mycelia of Sparassis crispa was investigated. The antitumor effect of the mycelia and the fruit body were evaluated following oral administration at a dose of 30mg/kg/day to tumor-bearing ICR mice for 15 days. Tumor size was measured for 4 weeks, whilst tumor weight was determined at week 5. The consecutive ingestion of S. crispa fruit body powder significantly suppressed tumor growth, while no such activity was observed on ingestion of the mycelial powder. The percentage of tumor weight inhibition was about 50% in the fruit body group, while a slight suppressive effect was observed in the mycelial group. The results of methylation analysis suggested that the structure of the β-glucan obtained from the mycelia differed markedly from that of the β-glucan obtained from the fruit body. The intergroup difference in antitumor activity might be attributable to the structure and content of β-glucan, which is the putative active component.