Popular #Herbs - Maitake Mushroom (Grifola Frondosa)

Maitake Mushroom is an edible mushroom in the genus Grifola, belonging to the family Meripilaceae, native to Japan. The herb has been used as liver protector and to enhance immune function, maintain health, preserve youth, increase longevity, etc.

Health Benefits
1. Hypertension
In the assessment of effect of two commercially-available fractions labeled SX and D derived from the edible maitake mushroom in overcoming many age-associated metabolic perturbations, found that maitake mushroom fractions lessen age-related hypertension, at least in part, via effects on the RAS; enhance insulin sensitivity; and reduce some aspects of inflammation--actions that should lead to a longer, healthier life span, according to "Maitake mushroom extracts ameliorate progressive hypertension and other chronic metabolic perturbations in aging female rats" by Preuss HG, Echard B, Bagchi D, Perricone NV.(1)

2. Immune system
In the phase I/II trial of a polysaccharide extract from Grifola frondosa (Maitake mushroom) in breast cancer patients and its immunological effects, found that oral administration of a polysaccharide extract from Maitake mushroom is associated with both immunologically stimulatory and inhibitory measurable effects in peripheral blood. Cancer patients should be made aware of the fact that botanical agents produce more complex effects than assumed, and may depress as well as enhance immune function, according to "A phase I/II trial of a polysaccharide extract from Grifola frondosa (Maitake mushroom) in breast cancer patients: immunological effects" by Deng G, Lin H, Seidman A, Fornier M, D'Andrea G, Wesa K, Yeung S, Cunningham-Rundles S, Vickers AJ, Cassileth B.(2)

3. Anti cancers
In the observation of Maitake D-Fraction, extracted from maitake mushroom, has been reported to exert its antitumor effect found that maitake D-Fraction appears to repress cancer progression and primarily exerts its effect through stimulation of NK activity. In addition, we conclude that measurement of NK cell activity may be a useful clinical parameter in monitoring disease progression during and following immunotherapy with maitake D-Fraction, according to "Effect of Maitake (Grifola frondosa) D-Fraction on the activation of NK cells in cancer patients" by Kodama N, Komuta K, Nanba H.(3)

4. Hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and hepatitis
In the investigation of Maitake (Grifola frondosa) and the effect of polysaccharide compounds in health-promoting potential, found that the D-fraction, the MD-fraction, and other extracts, often in combination with whole maitake powder, have shown particular promise as immunomodulating agents, and as an adjunct to cancer and HIV therapy. They may also provide some benefit in the treatment of hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and hepatitis(4)

5. Antioxidant properties
In the The optimization of solid-state fermentation conditions for mycelial growth in wheat by culinary-medicinal maitake mushroom and its health benefits found that that fermented wheat was effective in antioxidant activity, reducing power, scavenging ability on 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals, and chelating ability on ferrous ions. Total phenol contents of both extracts were 13.35 and 23.01 mg/g, respectively. according to "Preparation of culinary-medicinal maitake mushroom, Grifola frondosa (Dicks.: Fr.) S.F. Gray (Aphyllophoromycetideae)-fermented wheat and its antioxidant properties" by Huang SJ, Tsai SY, Lin SY, Liang CH, Lian PY, Mau JL.(5)

6. Breast cancer
In the assessment of maitake mushroom and its immunomodulatory and antitumoral properties found that D fraction, a microarray assay revealed upregulation of BAK-1 and cytochrome c transcripts, 2 proteins directly involved in the apoptotic pathway. Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction studies confirmed these findings; BAK-1 was one of most overexpressed gene, as observed by microarray assay. These findings confirm the apoptotic effect of maitake D fraction in breast cancer cells and further highlight the involvement of cytochrome c release to the cytoplasm, according to "Maitake (D fraction) mushroom extract induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells by BAK-1 gene activation" by Soares R, Meireles M, Rocha A, Pirraco A, Obiol D, Alonso E, Joos G, Balogh G.(6)

7. Colon cancer
In the assessment of isolation of the novel heteropolysaccharide maitake Z-fraction (MZF) from the maitake mushroom (Grifola frondosa) and its inhibited tumor growth effect found that that DCs pulsed with colon-26 tumor lysate in the presence of MZF induced both therapeutic and preventive effects on colon-26 tumor development in BALB/c mice. These results suggest that MZF could be a potential effective adjuvant to enhance immunotherapy using DC-based vaccination, according to "A polysaccharide extracted from Grifola frondosa enhances the anti-tumor activity of bone marrow-derived dendritic cell-based immunotherapy against murine colon cancer" by Masuda Y, Ito K, Konishi M, Nanba H.(7)

8. Anti-viral effect
In the examination of sixty preparations of basidiomycetes (Ganoderma, Lentinus, Pleurotus, Laetiporus, Polyporus, Inonotus, Flammulina, Grifola, Trametes) to their toxicity for Vero cells and antiviral activity found that he antiviral activity of the preparations was likely due to the content of polysaccharides or their derivatives in the composition. It increased with increasing of the quantity of the total polysaccharide fraction or its concentration, according to "[Antiviral activity of aqueous extracts and polysaccharide fractions from mycelium and fruit bodies of higher fungi].[Article in Russian]" by Razumov IA, Kosogova TA, Kazachinskaia EI, Puchkova LI, Shcherbakova NS, Gorbunova IA, Mikhaĭlovskaia IN, Loktev VB, Tepliakova TV.(8)

9. Antimetastatic and immunomodulating effect
In the experiment of the inhibitory effects against lung metastasis and promotion of splenocytes by water extracts from various mushrooms including Grifola frondosa, found that Oral administration of M8 resulted in the increased production of IFN-gamma and IL-4 by splenocytes stimulated with Con A compared with untreated controls. These results show that M8 has antitumor activities which may be useful as an antimetastatic agent, according to "Antimetastatic and immunomodulating effect of water extracts from various mushrooms" by Han SS, Cho CK, Lee YW, Yoo HS.(9)

10. Antiatherosclerotic effect
In the demonstration of the antiatherosclerotic effects of 3 edible mushrooms, Pleurotus eryngii (Eringi), Grifola frondosa (Maitake), and Hypsizygus marmoreus (Bunashimeji), in atherosclerosis-susceptible C57BL/6J, apolipoprotein E-deficient (apoE(-/-)) mice, found that The atherosclerotic lesions were significantly decreased in the Eringi, Maitake, and Bunashimeji groups than that in the control group at the end of the experiment. Dietary supplementation with the Bunashimeji mushroom powder had the strongest antiatherosclerotic effect among 3 mushrooms. In conclusion, supplementation of the 3 edible mushrooms prevents the development of atherosclerosis, even normal diet, according to "Antiatherosclerotic effect of the edible mushrooms Pleurotus eryngii (Eringi), Grifola frondosa (Maitake), and Hypsizygus marmoreus (Bunashimeji) in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice" by Mori K, Kobayashi C, Tomita T, Inatomi S, Ikeda M.(10)

11. Cholesterol-lowering effects
In the investigation of the effects of mushroom fibers on serum cholesterol and hepatic low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor mRNA in rats, found that maitake (Grifola frondosa) fiber (MAF) and enokitake (Flammulina velutipes) fiber (EF) lowered the serum total cholesterol level by enhancement of fecal cholesterol excretion, and in particular, by enhancement of hepatic LDL receptor mRNA in EF group, according to "Cholesterol-lowering effects of maitake (Grifola frondosa) fiber, shiitake (Lentinus edodes) fiber, and enokitake (Flammulina velutipes) fiber in rats" by Fukushima M, Ohashi T, Fujiwara Y, Sonoyama K, Nakano M.(11)

12. Influenza A/Aichi/2/68 Virus
In the investigation of investigated the inhibitory effect of the conditioned medium (CM) from P338D1 (D1) cells, a murine macrophage cell line, stimulated for 10 hours with a fixed dose (100 mug/ml) of the extracts from the fruit bodies of Grifola frondosa (ME) found that ME and MFs (especially MF-2) might induce the production of certain factors, including TNF-alpha, which are responsible for the inhibition of viral growth in vitro, according to "Inhibitory Effect of TNF-alpha Produced by Macrophages Stimulated with Grifola frondosa Extract (ME) on the Growth of Influenza A/Aichi/2/68 Virus in MDCK Cells" by Obi N, Hayashi K, Miyahara T, Shimada Y, Terasawa K, Watanabe M, Takeyama M, Obi R, Ochiai H.(12)

13. Diabetes
in the evaluation of the effect of administration of chromium-enriched Grifola frondosa (CEGF) in insulin-resistant sucrose-fed mice, found that Impaired glucose tolerance in sucrose-fed mice, evidenced by the poor glucose disposal rate following an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test, was significantly improved in mice receiving CEGF. CEGF is essentially nontoxic at the dose of 4.0 and 5.0 mg/kg per day. These results indicate that CEGF may have potential beneficial effects in insulin-resistant prediabetic conditions, according to "Activity and toxicity of Cr(III)-enriched Grifola frondosa in insulin-resistant mice" by Xu Q, Guo J.(13)

Side Effects
1. Do not take the herb in children or if you are pregnant or breast feeding without approval from the related field specialist.
2. Etc.

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Sources
(1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20567593
(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19253021
(3) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14977447
(4) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11207456
(5) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22135905
(6) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21480800
(7) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20563803
(8) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21400748
(9) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20633495
(10) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19083429
(11) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11520942
(12) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19051344
(13) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19319487