Category Archives: PSK

Suppression of cancer cell growth in vitro by the protein-bound polysaccharide of Coriolus versicolor QUEL (PS-K) with SOD mimicking activity.

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Cancer Biother. 1994 Spring;9(1):63-9.

Kobayashi Y, Kariya K, Saigenji K, Nakamura K.

Molecular Biology Laboratory, Kotasato University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan.

Abstract

The protein-bound polysaccharide of Coriolus versicolor QUEL (PS-K) expresses the mimicking activity of superoxide

dismutase (SOD). Examination was made of the suppressive effects of PS-K on cancer cell lines cultured in vitro. The

SOD activity of LLC-WRC-256 (Walker 256 fibrosarcoma) cell lines was less than that of NRK-49F (rat normal kidney

fibroblast), H4-II-E (rat hepatoma) and H4-II-E-C3 (rat hepatoma) cell lines. This activity in Walker 256 fibrosarcoma cells

increased by 3.6 times and H2O2 concentration, by 2.56 times by PS-K 500 micrograms/ml. Cell proliferation was

consequently suppressed and living cells decreased to less than 50% of the cells cultured without PS-K. Catalase and

glutathione peroxidase activity changed little by PS-K. The sensitivity of cancer cells to PS-K can be predetermined based

on SOD activity in tumor tissue.

PMID: 7812358 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

PubMed

U.S. National Library of Medicine

National Institutes of Health

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Randomized adjuvant trial to evaluate the addition of tamoxifen and PSK to chemotherapy in patients with primary breast cancer. 5-Year results from the Nishi-Nippon Group of the Adjuvant Chemoendocrine Therapy for Breast Cancer Organization.

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Cancer. 1992 Nov 15;70(10):2475-83.

Toi M, Hattori T, Akagi M, Inokuchi K, Orita K, Sugimachi K, Dohi K, Nomura Y, Monden Y, Hamada Y, et al.

Department of Surgery, Hiroshima University, Japan.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A randomized adjuvant trial was conducted from October 1982 to January 1985 to evaluate the addition

of tamoxifen (TAM) to combination chemotherapy with perioperative mitomycin C (MMC) and ftorafur (FT) for patients with

estrogen receptor (ER)-positive tumors and the addition of PSK, a biologic response modifier, to MMC+FT chemotherapy

for patients with ER-negative tumors in operable Stage IIA, IIB, and IIIA cancer. The doses used were 20 mg of oral TAM

daily, 600 mg of oral FT daily, and 3 g of oral PSK daily for 2 years. Intravenous MMC (13 mg/m2) was given on the day

of operation.

METHODS: A total of 967 patients were entered and randomized by stratification based on ER status and

staging (1978 International Union Against Cancer [UICC] criteria at the time of trial execution). Of 967 patients, 914

(94.5%) were evaluable. At 5-year follow-up, significant prolonged overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS)

times were seen with the addition of TAM in patients with ER-positive and Stage IIIA T3N0 cancer (1987 UICC-American

Joint Committee on Cancer [AJCC] criteria); however, no significant survival benefit from TAM was seen in patients with

ER-positive and Stage IIA T2N1 cancer. There was no significant difference between regimens, with or without PSK, in

patients with ER-negative disease.

RESULTS: Results of subset analyses suggested a benefit from TAM in

postmenopausal patients with ER-positive and Stage IIA T2N1 cancer and a benefit from PSK in patients with

node-negative, ER-negative, and Stage IIA T2N1 cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: The 5-year results of the current trial showed a

survival advantage by the addition of TAM to chemotherapy in patients with ER-positive and Stage IIIA T3N0 cancer.

PMID: 1423177 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

PubMed

U.S. National Library of Medicine

National Institutes of Health

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PSP and PSK

Informatioin Office of the Research Institute of Fungi Shanghai Teachers University

PSP and PSK are the 2 products of Yun Zhi ratified by Chinese Ministry of Public Health and Japanese Ministry of Public Health respectively.

PSK was first manufactured by Kureha Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. The PS in PSK represents polysaccharide and K represents the first alphabet of the name of this Company. It was originally written as PS-K and was later changed to PSK. o; The commercial name of the product is Krestin.

PSP was prepared by Professor Qing-yao Yang. It is like PSK and is also a kind of compound polysaccharide. On the molecules of the polysaccharide, the small molecular protein (polypeptide) is connected. So it is called Yun Zhi Duo Tang Tai or Yun Zhi Tang Tai. The Tang Tai English names were originally glycopeptide, proteoglucan, glycosaminoglucan, etc. But the polysaccharide is all composed of N-acetyl-amino-hexose. But the polysaccharides of PSP and PSK are not composed of N-acetylamino-hexose. So it is not suitable to use the name. So the word “polysaccharopeptide” or “polysaccharide-peptide” is used and is abbreviated as PSP or Ps-p.

According to the different degrees of extraction, there are a series of PSP products. PSP directly extracted from the mycelia of Yun Zhi is called Yun Zhi Polysaccharide-peptide (Trade mark Qing Kang) and PSP polysacchardie-peptide (Landford). The former is sold on the market of Mainland China and the latter is according to the export specifications and is sold overseas. These 2 products are mainly used for tumorous patients.

The essence of the product is obtained by further isolation of the crude product. It is called Essence of Mushroom (Yun Zhi) (The sole distributor is Winsor Health Products Ltd., Hong Kong) used for healthy purposes.

Japan is quite specialized in the research of Yun Zhi. Besides PSK, Hirose, S. et al, (1970), Naruse S. and Takeda S. (in 1970) and Sugiura M. (in 1980) isolated two anticancerous components of the mycelia of Yun Zhi respectively. The former is called

ASTO and latter D–II. In addition, Ito H. et al (in 1974) extracted from the fermented mash of Yun Zhi an anti-tumor component which does not contain protein and it is called Coriolan. Its chemical components are glucans (by Hayashida S. et al, in 1992). But the above-mentioned three components still remain in the process of pharmacological research and was not used in clinical application.

Though PSP and PSK are all a kind of protein bound polysaccharide and are all extracted from the deep layer cultivated mycelia, yet they use the different strains, fermented medium and different extracted methods. Thus there is a certain difference between PSP and PSK. It is known that in the polysaccharide of PSP there is fucose, while there is no fucose in PSP, which contains arabinose and rhamnose; while there are no such ingredients in PSK. On the other hand, according to the pharmacological and clinical research, PSP has the definite effect of alleviating pain and increasing appetite, while there is no such report on PSK. Comparison of Two Characterisitics of PSP and PSK

Items compared

Similarities

Dissimilarities

Fungi

Yun Zhi Coriolus versicolor (Fr.) Quel

PSP: Cov-1 strain PSK: CM-101 strain

Drug produced

PSP: capsule PSK: loose package

Powder color

brown

PSP: brown PSK: dark brown

Raw materials

deep-layer cultivated mycelia (2N)

Fermentation technology

with glucose as the main carbon source (25oC, 3 days)

PSP: nitrogenous source: soya beancake powder PSK: nitrogenous source: peptone and yeast cake

Extract and isolate

obtained by immersion in hot water

PSP: isolate by alcoholic precipitation PSK: isolate by salting out with (NH4)2SO4

Medicinal ingredients

protein bound polysaccharide; average molecular wt. 1 x 105 Da the polysaccharide is formed from many monosaccahrides containing

PSP: polysaccharides contain arabinose and rhmanose, but no fucose PSK: polysaccharides do not

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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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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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Blastoid transformation of human lymphocytes cultured with protein-bound polysaccharide preparation, PS-K, in vitro.

Ohno R, Yokomaku S, Wakayama K, Sugiura S, Yamada K.

Abstract

The protein-bound polysaccharide preparation, PS-K, isolated from a mushroom, Coriolus versicolor, was found to stimulate human lymphocytes and induce them into blastogenesis in vitro. This stimulatory effect seemed to be nonspecific since lymphocytes from cord blood of newborn babies were also stimulated by PS-K. The highest lymphocyte blastogenesis by PS-K was observed after 5 days in culture.

PMID: 1017585 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1017585

The effect of a protein-bound polysaccharide from Coriolus versicolor on immunological parameters and experimental infections in mice.

Mayer P, Drews J.

Abstract

The influence of PSK, a protein bound polysaccharide from Coriolus versicolor on various immunological parameters was studied, PSK was found to enhance B cell activity as measured by the spleen plaque-forming cell assay in mice, and to stimulate mouse macrophages as determined by an enhancement of carbon clearance and an increase in the phagocytosis of opsonized sheep red blood cells by peritoneal mouse macrophages in vitro. The activation of mouse macrophages by PSK appeared to correlate with the therapeutic effects of the compound. In mice made granulocytopenic with cyclophosphamide and subsequently infected with a variety of garm-negative pathogens or with Candida albicans, PSK prolonged the average survival time of the animals. The compound also led to a drastic increase in the number of animals surviving such experimental infections as compared to untreated controls. Possible mechanisms responsible for these protective effects by PSK are discussed.

PMID: 6966256 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6966256

Survival time of tumor-bearing rats as related to operative stress and immunopotentiators.

Hattori T, Hamai Y, Ikeda T, Takiyama W, Hirai T, Miyoshi Y.

Abstract

To investigate the mechanism of tumor growth enhancement induced by operative stress in rats, laparo-thoracotomy was performed on day 2 after tumor cell inoculation associated with administrations of various kinds of immunopotentiators. OK-432 (Streptococcal preparation), PS-K (extract from mycelium of Coriolus Versicolor), Lentinan (extract from Lentinus Edodus) and C. parvum were administered intravenously or intraperitoneally in the fractionated form prior to or after inoculation. In general, administration of each immunopotentiator, except for Lentinan, resulted in a recovery from the reduction in survival days after laparo-thoracotomy. In particular, OK-432 administration prior to inoculation showed a significant improvement.

PMID: 7109360 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7109360

Combination therapy of radiation and immunomodulators in the treatment of MM46 tumor transplanted in C3H/He mice.

Miyaji C, Ogawa Y, Imajo Y, Imanaka K, Kimura S.

Abstract

Female C3H/He mice aged 10 weeks with transplanted MM46 tumor were used in an investigation of the timing of administration of immunomodulators, such as PSK (a protein-bound polysaccharide prepared from Coriolus versicolor), OK-432 (streptococcal preparation), bestatin (inhibitor of aminopeptidase B) combined with two fractionated local irradiation with the total dose of 3,000 rad. The daily dose of 250 mg/kg of PSK, 1.0 KE/mouse of OK-432, or 300 micrograms/mouse of bestatin were injected intraperitoneally for 4 consecutive days before or after irradiation. The antitumor effect was evaluated by the changes of tumor volume and survival curves. When PSK or OK-432 was administered after irradiation, tumor growth was decreased and 60-day survival rate and survival curve were significantly elongated compared with the control group and the group to which PSK or OK-432 were administered before irradiation (p less than 0.025, p less than 0.05, respectively). As for bestatin, no remarkable difference was observed irrespective of the timing of administration. These results suggested that some immunomodulators show different antitumor activity depending on the combined timing relative to radiotherapy.

PMID: 6828288 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6828288