Hericium erinaceus in Neurodegenerative Diseases: From Bench to Bedside and Beyond, How Far from the Shoreline?

Abstract

A growing number of studies is focusing on the pharmacology and feasibility of bioactive compounds as a novel valuable approach to target a variety of human diseases related to neurological degeneration. Among the group of the so-called medicinal mushrooms (MMs), Hericium erinaceus has become one of the most promising candidates. In fact, some of the bioactive compounds extracted from H. erinaceus have been shown to recover, or at least ameliorate, a wide range of pathological brain conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, depression, Parkinson's disease, and spinal cord injury. In a large body of in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies on the central nervous system (CNS), the effects of erinacines have been correlated with a significant increase in the production of neurotrophic factors. Despite the promising outcome of preclinical investigations, only a limited number of clinical trials have been carried out so far in different neurological conditions. In this survey, we summarized the current state of knowledge on H. erinaceus dietary supplementation and its therapeutic potential in clinical settings. The bulk collected evidence underlies the urgent need to carry out further/wider clinical trials to prove the safety and efficacy of H. erinaceus supplementation, offering significant neuroprotective applications in brain pathologies.

Keywords: Alzheimer; BDNF; Hericium erinaceus; NGF; aging; depression; ergothioneine; erinacines; hericenones; mild cognitive impairment.

Figure 1

H. erinaceus grown on Q. cerris: the collected sporophore lies on the ground (photo by L. Goppa).

Figure 2

H. erinaceus potentials (photo by E. Savino) [40,45,46,50,51,52,53,69,70,71,77,83,88].

Figure 3

Timeline of the published papers relating the effects of H. erinaceus in clinical studies [72,73,74,85,86,124,127].