International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms

Effect of Oral Administration of Dried Royal Sun Agaricus, Agaricus brasiliensis S. Wasser et al. (Agaricomycetideae), Fruit Bodies on Anti-β-Glucan Antibody Titers in Humans

ABSTRAKT

Agaricus brasiliensis (= Agaricus blazei Murrill sensu Heinem.) is a health food that has received recent attention. β-Glucan is one of the major components of A. brasiliensis. We have reported that an anti-β-glucan antibody was detected in sera from human volunteers. In this study, we examined the reactivity of the anti-BG antibody to A. brasiliensis extracts in human sera and change in the anti-BG antibody titer of healthy volunteers taking A. brasiliensis for 6 months (N = 27, average age = 43 ± 11, male = 13, female = 14). Individual differences in the anti-BG antibody titer existed. We evaluated the rate of change in the titer in each individual. The volunteers in the A. brasiliensis group showed an increase in the anti-BG antibody titer as compared with those in the placebo group. Individual differences existed in the rate of the increase. We first demonstrated a clinical effect of the oral administration of A. brasiliensis on the anti-BG antibody titer. The oral administration of A. brasiliensis induced a β-glucan-specific response and there were individual differences in this response. The resulting anti-BG antibody production could be useful as an index of the immune response to β-glucan in humans.