Enhanced Anti-Inflammatory Effects by Glucans Extracted from the Stalks of Pleurotus Eryngii Grown In Substrates Containing Olive Mill Waste

We recently demonstrated that the mushroom Pleurotus eryngii grown on a substrate containing increasing concentrations of olive mill solid waste (OMSW) contain greater glucan concentrations as a function of OMSW content. Treatment of rat Intestinal epithelial cells (IEC-6) transiently transfected with Nf-κB fused to luciferase demonstrated that glucans extracted from P. eryngii stalks grown on 80% OMSW down regulated TNF-α activation. Glucans from mushrooms grown on 80% OMSW exerted the most significant reducing activity of nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treated J774A.1 murine macrophages. The isolated glucans were tested in vivo using the Dextran Sodium Sulfate (DSS) induced colitis in C57Bl/6 mice and found to reduce the histology damaging score resulting from DSS treatment. Expressions of various intestinal cytokines were efficiently down regulated by treatment with the fungal extracted glucans. We conclude that the stress-induced growing conditions exerted by OMSW induce production of more effective anti-inflammatory glucans in P. eryngii stalks.