%0 Journal Article %A Mizuno, Masashi %A Kawakami, Sachiko %A Hashimoto, Takashi %A Ashida, Hitoshi %A Minato, Ken-ichiro %D 2001 %I Begell House %N 4 %P 6 %R 10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v3.i4.70 %T Antitumor Polysaccharides from Edible and Medicinal Mushrooms and Immunomodulating Action Against Murine Macrophages %U https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/708ae68d64b17c52,4cf0547d63409c36,7c85d36656ddff8c.html %V 3 %X The immunomodulating action of an antitumor polysaccharide, lentinan, from Lentinus edodes was investigated in peritoneal maerophages of female BALB/c mice. First, the relationship between lentinan content, as measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). and the effects on the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and nitric oxide (NO) during storage was examined. When the mushrooms were stored at low temperature, the contents of their ami tumor polysaccharides and the production levels of TNF-α and NO showed hardly any changes. However, polysaccharide content and cytokine production decreased markedly at higher temperature (20°C). These results suggest that low-temperature storage is more effective in maintaining levels of antitumor polysaccharides and the quality of the mushrooms as the health-beneficient food. Next, the mechanism of cytokine production in murine macrophages stimulated with purified lentinan was examined. The results of time course experiments on the production of TNF-α and NO indicated that TNF-α was produced 12 h earlier than NO. An anti-TNF-α antibody inhibited completely NO production when added simultaneously with purified lentinan to macrophages. NOC-18 (NO donor) itself did not increase levels of TNF-α production. Moreover, simultaneous treatment with L-N-monomethylarginine (NO synthase inhibitor) and lentinan did not affect lentinan-induced production of TNF-α. The NO from macrophages was produced by an autocrine pathway through production of TNF-α. %8 2001-12-01