Cordyceps militaris alleviates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in ob/ob mice

Transcriptomic analysis of the anti-inflammatory effect of Cordyceps militaris extract on acute gouty arthritis

Background: Gouty arthritis (GA) is a common inflammatory disease that causes pain due to the deposition of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals into joints and surrounding tissues. Anti-inflammatory drugs have significant clinical anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects, but they have many side effects. Cordyceps militaris is an edible and medicinal fungus, and its extract (CME) has good anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory effect of CME on GA and its underlying mechanism.

Methods: The effect of CME on the expression of related inflammatory factors and histopathological changes in the MSU-induced acute inflammatory gout model in rats was studied by ELISA and HE, and its anti-inflammatory mechanism was analyzed by transcriptome combined with RT-qPCR.

Results: CME significantly improved gait scores and joint swelling in GA rats, and reduced MSU-induced inflammatory cell infiltration. CME inhibited MSU-induced inflammatory responses by reducing the levels of pro-inflammatory factors TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and Caspase-1 and increasing the anti-inflammatory factor IL-10. Transcriptome analysis showed that CME significantly altered inflammation-related cytokine pathways, and identified four major genes involved in regulation of inflammation, CCL7, CSF2RB, LIF, and IL-1β. In addition, RT-qPCR was performed to verify these differential genes.

Conclusion: CME significantly alleviated the inflammatory progression of GA and ameliorated the onset of GA. The underlying mechanism may be related to triggering the cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction signaling pathway to inhibit the activation of the inflammasome and regulate the immune system. And it regulates the inflammatory response induced by MSU crystals through the genes CCL7, CSF2RB, and IL-1β.

Mushrooms on the plate: Trends towards NAFLD treatment, health improvement and sustainable diets

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a most important cause of liver disease. Similar to other non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as obesity and type II diabetes mellitus, NAFLD can strongly affected by diet. Diet-related NCD and malnutrition are rising in all regions being a major cause of the global health, economic and environmental burdens. Mushrooms, important dietary components since the hunter-gathering communities, have increasingly gained momentum in biomedical research and therapeutics due to their interplay in metabolism traits. We emphasize here the beneficial effects of mushroom-enriched diets on the homeostasis of lipid and sugar metabolism, including their modulation, but also interfering with insulin metabolism, gut microbiota, inflammation, oxidative stress and autophagy. In this review, we describe the cellular and molecular mechanisms at the gut-liver axis and the liver-white adipose tissue (WAT) axis, that plausibly cause such positive modulation, and discuss the potential of mushroom-enriched diets to prevent or ameliorate NAFLD and related NCD, also within the shift needed towards healthy sustainable diets.

Efficacy of Ethyl Acetate Fraction of Cordyceps militaris for Cancer-Related Fatigue in Blood Biochemical and 1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Metabolomic Analyses

This study investigated the adjuvant effects for anticancer and antifatigue of the combination of Cordyceps militaris extract with sorafenib. The 5 extracts of C militaris were obtained through hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, butanol, and water and were evaluated for anticancer growth activity. Among these extracts, ethyl acetate extract of C militaris showed the best tumor growth inhibitory activity and the adjuvant effects in combination with sorafenib. As a result of biochemical analysis with serum, the combination of ethyl acetate extract of C militaris with sorafenib showed the adjuvant effects both improving hepatic function and relieving cancer-related fatigue. In addition, ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance–based metabolic profiling in liver tissues showed that the change of metabolism by ethyl acetate extract of C militaris with sorafenib was related with serum fatigue biomarkers. Therefore, the combination strategy such as ethyl acetate extraction of C militaris with sorafenib constitutes a promising therapeutic strategy in hepatocellular carcinoma, via the inhibition of cancer growth, the enhancement of liver function, as well as the alleviation of cancer-related fatigue.

Fermented Cordyceps militaris Extract Prevents Hepatosteatosis and Adipocyte Hypertrophy in High Fat Diet-Fed Mice

Nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) is characterized by accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver. The objective of this study was to evaluate protective effects of fermented Cordyceps militaris extract by Pediococcus pentosaceus ON188 (ONE) against hepatosteatosis and obesity in mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD). Eight-week-old male C57BL/6J mice were fed HFD mixed with ONE for four weeks and its effects on hepatosteatosis and obesity were examined. Although ONE did not change food intake, it reduced body weights of mice at administration dose of 200 mg/kg/day. Activities of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), aspartate transaminase (AST), and alanine transaminase (ALT) as plasma parameters were reduced by ONE in a dose-dependent manner. Hepatic lipid droplets and triglyceride (TG) levels were also reduced by ONE due to upregulation of fatty acid oxidizing genes such as carnithine palmitoyltransferase (CPT1) and peroxisomal proliferator activated receptor α(PPARα) mediated by induction of sphingosine kinase 2 (SPHK2). In epididymal fat tissue, sizes of adipocytes were significantly reduced by ONE in a dose-dependent manner. This is mainly due to suppression of lipogenesis and upregulation of adipocyte browning genes. Collectively, these results suggest that fermented ONE can activate fatty acid oxidation via SPHK2 in the liver. It can also suppress lipogenesis and activate browning in adipose tissue. Thus, ONE might have potential to be used for the development of functional foods against liver dysfunction and obesity.

Fermented Cordyceps militaris Extract Ameliorates Hepatosteatosis via Activation of Fatty Acid Oxidation

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease is a progressive disease involving the accumulation of lipid droplets in the liver. In this study, we investigated the anti-hepatosteatosis effects of fermented Cordyceps militaris extract (CME) in AML-12 hepatocytes. Although the levels of adenosine and cordycepin were reduced in the extracts of CM grown on germinated soybean (GSCE) and fermented CM grown on germinated soybean (GSC) by Pediococcus pentosaceus ON188 (ON188E), the expression of fatty acid oxidation (FAO) genes were upregulated only by GSC-ON188E treatment in a dose-dependent manner. In contrast, a lipogenic gene, stearoyl Coenzyme A desaturase 1, was downregulated by ON188E. Formation of intracellular lipid droplets by the addition of oleic acid was reduced by ON188E to levels observed in WY14643-treated cells. When cells were treated with ON188E, sphingosine kinase 2 mainly responsible for hepatic sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) synthesis was upregulated and S1P was elevated. Collectively, the fermented GSC extract activates FAO through elevation of S1P synthesis and has potential as a therapeutic for hepatosteatosis.

Xyloketal B Attenuates Fatty Acid-Induced Lipid Accumulation via the SREBP-1c Pathway in NAFLD Models

The goal of this study was to examine the effects of xyloketal B on nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and to explore the molecular mechanisms underlying its effects in both in vivo and in vitro models. We discovered an association between xyloketal B and the sterol regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) signaling pathway, which is related to lipid metabolism. Mice were dosed with xyloketal B (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg/d) and atorvastatin (15 mg/kg/d) via intraperitoneal injection once daily for 40 days after being fed a high fat diet plus 10% high fructose liquid (HFD+HFL) for 8 weeks. Xyloketal B significantly improved HFD+HFL-induced hepatic histological lesions and attenuated lipid and glucose accumulation in the blood as well as lipid accumulation in the liver. Xyloketal B increased the expression of CPT1A, and decreased the expression of SREBP-1c and its downstream targeting enzymes such as ACC1, ACL, and FAS. Xyloketal B also significantly reduced lipid accumulation in HepG2 cells treated with free fatty acids (FFAs). These data suggested that xyloketal B has lipid-lowering effects via the SREBP-1c pathway that regulate lipid metabolism. Thus, targeting SREBP-1c activation with xyloketal B may be a promising novel approach for NAFLD treatment.