Therapeutic Scrutiny of Lentinus polychrous with Attention to Its Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Anticancer Attributes.

Abstract

Mushrooms, being a source of therapeutically active compounds, are of great interest to researchers due to their historical usage in traditional therapies and the significant role that natural products have played in the development of contemporary medications. Lentinus polychrous is one underutilized mushroom species collected from the laterites of West Bengal, India. Our study aims toward its taxonomic validation, deciphering the secondary metabolic fingerprint, and testing its efficiency in countering many clinical issues, including oxidative stress, growing microbial drug resistance, and cancer. In vitro investigations have shown that the methanolic extract of the mushroom has a broad spectrum of antioxidant activities with effective concentration (EC₅₀) ranging from 403.6 ± 3.8 to 841.2 ± 10.7 µg/mL depending on the type of free radicals and is effective in combating human pathogenic bacterial strains where MIC₅₀ varies from as low as 302.2 ± 3.8 to 570.6 ± 1.8 µg/mL, mediated likely through inducing the breakdown of the outer coat and inducing increased porosity. The fraction was also shown to possess anticancer properties against A549 cells (LD₅₀ 120.9 ± 1.83 µg/mL) by triggering apoptosis. The modulation of Bcl-2 family gene expression was found to be the primary factor responsible for the induction of apoptosis in A549 cells during the experimental approaches. The findings revealed that the mushroom exhibits significant antioxidant, antibacterial, and particular cytotoxic effects on lung cancer cells, indicating its potential medical importance. These results provide essential insights into possibilities for the development of new therapeutic medicines derived from this mushroom.