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. 2021 Jul 27;13(8):2564.
doi: 10.3390/nu13082564.

Combining the Anticancer and Immunomodulatory Effects of Astragalus and Shiitake as an Integrated Therapeutic Approach

Biju Balakrishnan  1   2 , Qi Liang  1   3 , Kevin Fenix  2   4 , Bunu Tamang  1 , Ehud Hauben  2   4   5 , Linlin Ma  6 , Wei Zhang  1
Affiliations

Combining the Anticancer and Immunomodulatory Effects of Astragalus and Shiitake as an Integrated Therapeutic Approach

Biju Balakrishnan et al. Nutrients. .

Abstract

Astragalus root (Huang Qi) and Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinus edodes) are both considered medicinal foods and are frequently used in traditional Chinese medicine due to their anticancer and immunomodulating properties. Here, the scientific literatures describing evidence for the anticancer and immunogenic properties of Shiitake and Astragalus were reviewed. Based on our experimental data, the potential to develop medicinal food with combined bioactivities was assessed using Shiitake mushrooms grown over Astragalus beds in a proprietary manufacturing process, as a novel cancer prevention approach. Notably, our data suggest that this new manufacturing process can result in transfer and increased bioavailability of Astragalus polysaccharides with therapeutic potential into edible Shiitake. Further research efforts are required to validate the therapeutic potential of this new Hengshan Astragalus Shiitake medicinal food.

Keywords: Astragalus; Hengshan Astragalus Shiitake; Shiitake; bioactive; cancer immunology; medicinal food.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Pathways through which Astragalus and shiitake bioactives compounds mediate antiproliferative and pro-apoptotic effects in cancer cells. (APS–Astragalus Polysaccharides, AST–Astragalus saponins, LP1-Lacriptin domain, AGIV- Astragaloside IV).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Immunomodulatory functions of Astragalus and Shiitake in tumour immune microenvironment. (MDSC–Myeloid-derived suppressor cells).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Potential benefits of HAS.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Photograph showing the (A) Shiitake, (B) HAS-5% and (C) HAS-20%.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Global metabolome analysis of the differential metabolites in Hengshan Astragalus (HA), Shiitake (S), HAS-5% and HAS-20%. (A) The methanolic extracts of HA, S, HAS-5% and HAS-20% were analyzed using GC-TOF-MS with seven replicates for each sample. The peaks and signal strength of all the 28 analyses are shown as a TIC (Total Ionic Current) map. (B) Venn diagram showing the results from global metabolomic analysis. HA—Hengshan Astragalus (blue), S—Shiitake (green), HAS-5%—Shiitake grown over growth bed containing 5% Astragalus (yellow), HAS-20%—Shiitake grown over the growth bed containing 20% Astragalus (lavender).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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