Monthly Archives: December 2010

Cancer, Medical Studies, Tumor

Lack of prevention of large intestinal cancer by VPS, an extract of Coriolus versicolor mushroom.

M Coles, B Toth.

Eppley Institute, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198, USA.

Cancer prevention studies were conducted with VPS, a hot water extract of the Coriolus versicolor (CV) mushroom, in female Swiss mice. The extract was administered in the diet for life to the animals. Three groups of mice received the following treatments: a). 1,2-dimethylhydrazine dihydrochloride (1,2-DMH) was administered as 10 weekly subcutaneous injections of 20 microg/g body weight, starting at 9 weeks of age; b). VPS was given at a 2% dose level starting at 7 weeks of age followed by 1,2-DMH, as described in group a; c). 1,2-DMH was administered as described in group a followed by VPS at a 2% dose level starting at 21 weeks of age. The number of animals with large intestinal tumors and the total number of these tumors were: a). 30,321; b). 29,359; and c). 28,415. These differences are not statistically significant. Because extracts of the CV mushroom are used by cancer patients as nutritional supplements in the U.S., and particularly in the Orient, the present negative result should caution its users.

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Medical Studies, PSP

Effects of polysaccharide peptide (PSP) from Coriolus versicolor on the pharmacokinetics of cyclophosphamide in the rat and cytotoxicity in HepG2 cells.

Chan SL, Yeung JH.

Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China. cslkel@hotmail.com

Polysaccharide peptide (PSP), isolated from Coriolus versicolor COV-1, has been shown to restore the immunological effects against cyclophosphamide-induced immuno-suppression, although the mechanism(s) involved remain uncertain. This study investigated the PSP-cyclophosphamide interaction by studying the effects of PSP on the pharmacokinetic of cyclophosphamide in the rat and the effect of PSP on the cytotoxic effects of cyclophosphamide on a cancer cell line (HepG2 cells). In the pharmacokinetic studies in the rat, acute pre-treatment of PSP (4 micromol/kg/day, i.p.) decreased the clearance (CL) of cyclophosphamide by 31%, with a concomitant increase in the area under concentration-time curve (AUC) by 44%, and prolongation of the plasma half-life (T(1/2)) by 43%. Sub-chronic pre-treatment of PSP (2 micromol/kg/day, i.p., 3 days) decreased the CL of cyclophosphamide by 33%, with a concomitant increase in the AUC by 50%, and prolongation of the plasma T(1/2) by 34%. In cytotoxicity studies using HepG2 cells, non-toxic dose of PSP (1-10 microM) enhanced the cytotoxicity of cyclophosphamide. PSP at 10 microM further decreased HepG2 cell viability by 22% compared to when cyclophosphamide was present alone. In summary, PSP enhanced the cytotoxic effect of cyclophosphamide on a cancer cell line in vitro and altered the pharmacokinetics of cyclophosphamide in vivo in the rat. Both of these effects may be beneficial in the use of PSP as an adjunct to cyclophosphamide treatment.

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Leukemia, Medical Studies

Induction of cell cycle changes and modulation of apoptogenic/anti-apoptotic and extracellular signaling regulatory protein expression by water extracts of I’m-Yunity™ (PSP)

Published: 11 September 2006
BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2006, 6:30 doi:10.1186/1472-6882-6-30
Received: 13 April 2006
Accepted: 11 September 2006
This article is available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/6/30
© 2006 Hsieh et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background: I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) is a mushroom extract derived from deep-layer cultivated mycelia of the patented Cov-1 strain of Coriolus versicolor (CV), which contains as its main bioactive ingredient a family of polysaccharo-peptide with heterogeneous charge properties and molecular sizes. I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) is used as a dietary supplement by cancer patients and by individuals diagnosed with various chronic diseases. Laboratory studies have shown that I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) enhances immune functions and also modulates cellular responses to external challenges. Recently, I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) was also reported to exert potent anti-tumorigenic effects, evident by suppression of cell proliferation and induction of apoptosis in malignant cells. We investigate the mechanisms by which I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) elicits these effects.

 

Methods: Human leukemia HL-60 and U-937 cells were incubated with increasing doses of aqueous extracts of I’m-Yunity™ (PSP). Control and treated cells were harvested at various times and analyzed for changes in: (1) cell proliferation and viability, (2) cell cycle phase transition, (3) induction of apoptosis, (4) expression of cell cycle, apoptogenic/anti-apoptotic, and extracellular regulatory proteins.

 

Results: Aqueous extracts of I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) inhibited cell proliferation and induced apoptosis in HL- 60 and U-937 cells, accompanied by a cell type-dependent disruption of the G1/S and G2/M phases of cell cycle progression. A more pronounced growth suppression was observed in treated HL-60 cells, which was correlated with time- and dose-dependent down regulation of the retinoblastoma protein Rb, diminution in the expression of anti-apoptotic proteins bcl-2 and survivin, increase in apoptogenic proteins bax and cytochrome c, and cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) from its native 112-kDa form to the 89-kDa truncated product. Moreover, I’m-Yunity™ (PSP)-treated HL-60 cells also showed a substantial decrease in p65 and to a lesser degree p50 forms of transcription factor NF-?B, which was accompanied by a reduction in the expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX2). I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) also elicited an increase in STAT1 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) and correspondingly, decrease in the expression of activated form of ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase).

 

Conclusion: Aqueous extracts of I’m-Yunity™ (PSP) induces cell cycle arrest and alterations in the\ expression of apoptogenic/anti-apoptotic and extracellular signaling regulatory proteins in human leukemia cells, the net result being suppression of proliferation and increase in apoptosis. These findings may contribute to the reported clinical and overall health effects of I’m-Yunity™ (PSP).

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Cancer, in vitro, Medical Studies, PSK, PSP, Types Of Extract

Comparsion of Anti-cancer Effect between two kinds of Polysaccharide Peptide of Coriolus versicolor on Human Tumor Cell Lines in Vitro

L.Z. Xu Laboratory of Pathology Cancer Institute, Shanghai Medical University

Abstract

In the present study the anti-cancer effect of polysaccharide peptide of Coriolus versicolor Cov-1 (PSP) was compared with polysaccharide peptide of Coriolus versicolor CM-101 (PSK) on four human tumor cell line targets (SGC 7901, stomach cancer cell; SPC, human lung adenocarcinoma cell; SLY, human monocytic leukemia cell and Mei, human skin histiocytic lymphoma cell) in Vitro.

PSP had similar cytotoxic effects upon human tumor cells as PSK, both inhibiting cell growth. In comparison with control specimens, the SPC cell line treated with PSP (1000ug/ml) for 72 hours at 37oC showed marked morphological changes such as cell swelling, chromatin aggregation, formation of polynuclear cells and sawtooth on the surface of cell nuclei.

PSK as a new immunomodulative drug had been widely used for clinical anticancer therapy in Japan. When combined with chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical operation, PSK is found to be able to improve the therapeutic effects. In 1983, a polysaccharide peptide of Coriolus versicolor Cov-1 was isolated from the mycelia by Qing-yao Yang. It is possessed of physio-chemical characteristics similar to PSK and designated as PSP. In the present study the anti-cancer effect of PSP was compared with PSK using four human tumor cell line targets in vitro.

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Medical Studies, PSP

In vitro inhibition of proliferation of HL-60 cells by tetrandrine and coriolus versicolor peptide derived from Chinese medicinal herbs.

Y Dong, MM Yang, CY Kwan.

Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.

Coriolus versicolor polysaccharide peptide (CVP) and the bis-benzylisoquinoline alkaloids, tetrandrine (TET) and berbamine (BER), the active ingredients isolated from Chinese medicinal herbs known to possess antitumor activities, concentration-dependently inhibited the proliferation of human leukemic HL-60 cells. CVP did not affect the growth of normal human peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), whereas TET elicited concentration-dependent cytotoxic effects. Morphological observation and DNA analysis revealed that CVP elicited no effect on the morphological features of HL-60 cells and did not cause DNA fragmentation, but TET and BER caused cell shrinkage with the formation of apoptotic bodies, and showed clear evidence of DNA fragmentation. These findings indicate that TET and BER, but not CVP, inhibited the proliferation of HL-60 cells via induction of apoptosis.

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Immunotherapy, Medical Studies

Polysaccharopeptide from the mushroom Coriolus versicolor possesses analgesic activity but does not produce adverse effects on female reproductive or embryonic development in mice.

TB Ng, WY Chan.

Departments of Biochemistry and Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong.

Coriolus versicolor polysaccharopeptide has been reported to exert immunomodulatory and antitumor actions. The present study showed that it exhibits analgesic activity in the hot-plate test upon intraperitoneal administration to ICR mice. 2. It did not affect ovarian steroidogenesis, ovulation and midterm gestation in mice. It did not exert an adverse effect on mouse embryonic development either, as evidenced by the lack of an effect on somite number, axial length and the incidence of abnormalities in heartbeat, yolk sac circulation, optic vesicle, otic vesicle, shape of body axis, forelimb buds, branchial apparatus, cranial neural tube and head size. 3. Its analgesic activity would add to its attribute as an immunomodulatory and antitumor drug.

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Cancer, Chemotherapy, Immunotherapy, Medical Studies

Treatment of cancer with mushroom products.

JA Monro.

Breakspear Hospital, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, United Kingdom. jmonro@breakspearmedical.com

Cancer has been attributed to 3 causes: pollution, infection, and poor nutrition. Conventional treatments include surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. The author proposes that immunotherapy also be considered. Among other environmental influences, dietary deficiencies and carcinogenic viral infections must be investigated and treated wherever possible. It has been suggested that mushrooms, in particular, have a structure that is immunomodulatory because it resembles the proteoglycan structure in the human extracellular matrix, and both are metabolically active. Inasmuch as mitochondria have a bacterial origin, proteoglycans may have a mushroom origin. The author describes a study which shows that natural killer cells can double in number with 8 wk of treatment with Coriolus versicolor. Also described is an epidemiological survey of cancer deaths among Flammulina velutipes farmers in Japan, which found that the mushroom farmers had lower rates of cancer deaths than controls who were not involved in mushroom farming?

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Cancer, in vitro, Medical Studies, PSK, PSP

Clinical Experience in the Use of PSP

W.C. Xue and T.F. Liu
Cancer Hospital, Shanghai Medical University

Abstract

There is no really effective treatment for moderate and advanced stages of esophageal
carcinoma. Although surgery for the earlier cases has been able to give a 5 years survival
rate of 28.7%, such operable cases are relatively few. By far the greater majority are
already in stage III to IV when first seen in the clinic, and radiotherapy alone in these cases
has given a 5 years survival rate of only 8-14%. In order to improve treatment results, a
variety of chemotherapeutic agents have been used in combination surgery, but so far no
really effective drug has been found.

The drug PSP (polysaccharide-peptide of Coriolus versicolor) has been discovered and
produced by Professor Qing-yao Yang of. It is a new anti-cancer and immuno-regulatory
drug, similar to PSK (Krestin) but the effective component has been found to be larger
than PSK. Experimental data has proved these properties of PSP, and in vitro as well as
in vivo studies have all proved that PSP is superior to PSK. Of course, as is the case with
all new drugs, the ultimate proof of its value will have to be shown by clinical application.

Data on Krestin suggest that this family of drugs when used in combination with
radiotherapy, there might be an increase of the biological effects of radiation. To do a
pilot study on such a possibility, the authors have treated 41 moderate to advanced cases of
esophageal carcinoma with a combination of PSP and radiotherapy.

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News

CRISTINA FERRARE TO HOST NEW INFOMERCIAL

Irvine, Californa (December 6, 2010)  inLife LLC, distributors of science-based Health & Wellness products today announced that a new infomercial hosted by TV personality Cristina Ferrare will begin airing December 28 and will feature inLife’s new ground-breaking immune building product, inForce. “We are very excited to be working with Cristina Ferrare as our infomercial host”, stated Craig Youngblood, CEO and Founder of inLife. Worldwide there have been over 400 animal and human studies on inForce’s main ingredients PSK & PSP, extracts of the Coriolus versicolor mushroom, which have also been the subjects of over a dozen placebo-based human trials conducted in the west.

About Cristina Ferrare

Cristina is a talented television personality and bestselling author on women’s health issues, style and healthy family living. Cristina is also the star of her own cooking show “A Big Bowl of Love” on the new Oprah Winfrey Network. The show will air 3:30 PM (M-F). Cristina states that “inForce is the best all- natural product I’ve found to keep me and my family safer by boosting our bodies’ immune system.”

About Coriolus Versicolor

The Coriolus versicolor mushroom is one of the most widely studied immune building supplements. Worldwide, there have been over 400 animal and human studies on PSK & PSP, both polysaccharide extracts of the Coriolus versicolor mushroom with over a dozen placebo-based human trials conducted in the west. Traditionally, the Coriolus versicolor mushroom (known as Yun-zhi or cloud mushroom in China) has been used in China for several thousand years because of its immune boosting capabilities. In the 1980s, Dr. Yang conducted further studies and was able to isolate a much more potent strain using a different, alcohol-based extraction process. The result was Polysaccharopeptide or PSP. In the United States, top-ranked hospital and research institutes have reported that Coriolus versicolor helps boost the body’s immune system with limited side effects and safety of daily oral doses for extended periods of time. In addition, Coriolus versicolor and its potential positive effects has been studied very closely by M.D. Anderson, University of Texas, Loma Linda University, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (a teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School) , The University of San Diego, Sloan-Kettering Center (New York), and Bastyr University (Kenmore, Washington), just to name a few.

inLife Immune Builder with PSP and PSK

inLife offers Coriolus versicolor as a Daily Dietary Supplement in capsule form to help maintain and stimulate the body’s immune system. Coriolus versicolor and its high-potency extracts, PSK and PSP are among the most widely studied supplements for their immune building properties and the incredibly positive results of these studies are compelling. InForce Immune Builder is a proprietary blend of both Polysaccharide-K (PSK) and Polysaccharopeptide (PSP). Both offer valuable immune building assistance and can be taken on a daily basis. The products are bottled in the United States in an FDA registered bottling facility that is CGMP compliant (Current Good Manufacturing Practices).

About inLife, LLC

Founded in 2007, inLife has been very successful in bringing to market products with efficacies that are soundly based on scientific research. inLife products are now available in the U.S. as well as the U.K, Canada and Spain. For more information on inForce Immune Builder and on the company, please review www.myinlife.com. For further details on inForce, journalists may contact Thomas Kiklas directly at 949-648-2525.

Click here to download this press release.

News

Immune-Boosting Mushroom From Asia Now Available In The U.S.A.

(NAPSI)-The immune system is the body’s ultimate defense against illness and disease. A healthy immune system helps defend the body against the common cold to the most catastrophic illness that you may face.

Boosting your immune system can be easier than you might imagine.

One way is to take supplements and one supplement growing in popularity involves mushrooms. WebMD states that the Coriolus mushroom is used to stimulate the immune system and increase energy.

Traditionally, the Coriolus Versicolor mushroom has been used in China for several thousands of years because of its immune- boosting capabilities.

Its documented usage in history dates back to the mid-1300s during the Ming dynasty. In the 1970s, researchers in Japan started experimenting with the mushroom by extracting its essence in the form of polysaccharide krestin (PSK) and as a polysaccharide peptide (PSP) in China.

Human clinical trials show that the active ingredient in these mushrooms can maintain health and wellness.

There have been over 400 animal and human studies worldwide and in the U.S., including over a dozen human-based placebo trials.

inLife offers Coriolus Versicolor as a daily dietary supplement in pill form to help maintain and stimulate the body’s immune system. It’s available as inForce Immune Builder, a combination of PSK and PSP.

inForce offers much-needed immune-building assistance and it can be taken on a daily basis. inForce is made in the U.S.A. in a cGMP-certified facility and is also vegan friendly.

More information can be found by visiting www.buyinforce.com.