Phellinus Health Benefits and Side Effects

Phellinus linteus Health Benefits
and Side Effects

It is known that polysaccharides extracted from the Phellinus linteus mushroom
possess anti-tumor activity. Phellinus linteus mushroom indirectly augments the
host's immune system against cancer cells and reduced tumor proliferation. [1,2]

Prostate Cancer Cells
Researchers from Harvard Medical School demonstrated that LNCaP cells expressing
the androgen receptor are highly susceptible to apoptosis in response to treatment
with high doses of Phellinus linteus. They also found that caspase 2 is a key target in
the determination of the susceptibility of prostate cancer cells to PL-induced
apoptosis. [1]

Lung Cancer Cells
Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine reported that high doses of
Phellinus linteus mushroom could make lung cancer cells to undergo apoptosis in a
dose-dependent fashion while low doses of Phellinus linteus mushroom allows the
arrest of the cell-cycle. Furthermore, the low dose of Phellinus linteus mushroom was
able to synergize with doxorubicin to induce apoptosis in the lung cancer cells. [2]

A study of rats in Korea showed that pretreatment with mycelial culture of Phellinus
linteus provided protection of the gastric mucosa from ethanol-induced injury by
maintaining the mucus barrier. The ulcer was induced by ethanol. Pretreatment with
mycelial culture of Phellinus linteus at doses of 20 and 60 mg/kg, led to a significant
decrease of bleeding and ulcer index. [3]

Melanoma Cells
Korean researchers showed that Phellinus linteus significantly inhibited melanoma
cell metastasis in mice. In the study, Phellinus linteus directly inhibited cancer cell
adhesion to and invasion through the extracellular matrix. [4]

Colon Cancer Cells
Phellinus linteus inhibited the proliferation and colony formation of SW480 human
colon cancer cells. Flow cytometry analysis showed that Phellinus linteus increased
the populations of both apoptotic sub-G1 and G2/M phase. [6]

Neuroblastoma
Researchers from Korea found that the anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects of
mycelium extracts of Phellinus linteus on neuroblastoma were associated with a
significant induction of the Bax and cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p21. [10]

Anti-inflammatory activities.
Phellinus linteus showd an anti-inflammatory activity via mediation of HO-1 in an in
vitro inflammation model. [5]

Anti-bacterial activities.
Methanol extract and its fractions (CHCl3, n-BuOH and H2O) of the fruit body of
Phellinus linteus mushroom showed antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus. [8]

Antioxidant activities
Hispidin, antioxidant extracted from the mycelial culture broth of Phellinus linteus,
inhibited 22.6 and 56.8% of the super oxide anion radical, 79.4 and 95.3% of the
hydroxyl radical, and 28.1 and 85.5% of the DPPH radical at 0.1 and 1.0 mM,
respectively. [9]

Liver Protection
In a study, an ethyl acetate fraction of mycelial culture of Phellinus linteus protected
hepatocytes from H(2)O(2)- or galactosamine-induced injury. [7]

COMMENTS
Phellinus linteus may have lots of health benefits, but there are limited clinical studies.
Results of animal models and cell culture may not be same in human body. In
addition, studies on its side effects are needed.

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[1] Zhu T, et al, Phellinus linteus activates different pathways to induce apoptosis in prostate cancer
cells. Br J Cancer. 2007 Feb 26;96(4):583-90. Epub 2007 Jan 30. [2] Guo J, et al, Modulation of
lung cancer growth arrest and apoptosis by Phellinus Linteus. Mol Carcinog. 2007 Feb;46(2):144-54.
[3] Lee JH, et al, Effects of mycelial culture of Phellinus linteus on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in
rats. Phytother Res. 2006 May;20(5):396-402. [4] Han SB, et al, Acidic polysaccharide from
Phellinus linteus inhibits melanoma cell metastasis by blocking cell adhesion and invasion. Int
Immunopharmacol. 2006 Apr;6(4):697-702. Epub 2005 Nov 8. [5] Kim BC, et al, Heme oxygenase-1
mediates the anti-inflammatory effect of mushroom Phellinus linteus in LPS-stimulated RAW264.7
macrophages. J Ethnopharmacol. 2006 Jul 19;106(3):364-71. Epub 2006 Feb 20. [6] Li G, et al,
Protein-bound polysaccharide from Phellinus linteus induces G2/M phase arrest and apoptosis in
SW480 human colon cancer cells. Cancer Lett. 2004 Dec 28;216(2):175-81. [7] Kim SH, et al,
Mycelial culture of Phellinus linteus protects primary cultured rat hepatocytes against hepatotoxins.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2004 Dec;95(2-3):367-72. [8] Hur JM, et al, Antibacterial effect of Phellinus
linteus against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Fitoterapia. 2004 Sep;75(6):603-5. [9]
Park IH, et al, An antioxidant hispidin from the mycelial cultures of Phellinus linteus. Arch Pharm
Res. 2004 Jun;27(6):615-8. [10] Choi YH, et al, Induction of apoptotic cell death by mycelium
extracts of Phellinus linteus in human neuroblastoma cells. Int J Mol Med. 2004 Aug;14(2):227-32.