Center for Molecular and Clinical Immunology, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Sci Rep. 2013;3:1374. doi: 10.1038/srep01374.
Cordyceps sinensis is a medicinal mushroom used for centuries in Asian countries as a health supplement and tonic. Hirsutella sinensis-the anamorphic, mycelial form of C. sinensis-possesses similar properties, and is increasingly used as a health supplement. Recently, C. sinensis extracts were shown to inhibit the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-1β in lipopolysaccharide-treated macrophages. However, the molecular mechanism underlying this process has remained unclear. In addition, whether H. sinensis mycelium (HSM) extracts also inhibit the production of IL-1β has not been investigated. In the present study, the HSM extract suppresses IL-1β and IL-18 secretion, and ATP-induced activation of caspase-1. Notably, we observed that HSM not only reduced expression of the inflammasome component NLRP1 and the P2X7R but also reduced the activation of caspase-4, and ATP-induced ROS production. These findings reveal that the HSM extract has anti-inflammatory properties attributed to its ability to inhibit both canonical and non-canonical inflammasomes.
冬虫夏草是一种药用蘑菇，在亚洲国家被使用了几个世纪，作为一种保健品和滋补品。中华束丝孢菌——冬虫夏草的无性型、菌丝体形式——具有相似的特性，越来越多地被用作保健品。最近，研究表明，冬虫夏草提取物可以抑制脂多糖处理的巨噬细胞中促炎细胞因子 IL-1β的产生。然而，这一过程的分子机制仍不清楚。此外，中华束丝孢菌菌丝体（HSM）提取物是否也能抑制 IL-1β的产生尚未得到研究。在本研究中，HSM 提取物抑制了 IL-1β和 IL-18 的分泌，以及 ATP 诱导的半胱天冬酶-1 的激活。值得注意的是，我们观察到 HSM 不仅降低了炎症小体成分 NLRP1 和 P2X7R 的表达，还降低了半胱天冬酶-4 的激活以及 ATP 诱导的 ROS 产生。这些发现表明，HSM 提取物具有抗炎特性，这归因于其抑制经典和非经典炎症小体的能力。
