Safety assessment of HEA-enriched mycelia on the central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular system, and respiratory system in ICR male mice.

, an entomopathogenic fungus, is a source of traditional Chinese medicine in China. Due to the low yield of wild , artificial cultivation approaches will be needed to meet the increasing market demand. Using bioreactor culture can increase mass production and the abundance of the active component, N6-(2-hydroxyethyl)-adenosine (HEA). Here, we describe a safety assessment for a novel mycelium preparation method. Many studies have confirmed the safety of mycelia. However, the acute safety pharmacology of the enriched with the high HEA (3.90 mg/g) compound has not been evaluated. This study evaluated the central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular system, and respiratory system in ICR male mice via oral gavage administration. For each requested item, two batches of eight mice tested on a vehicle (0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose, CMC) and mycelia (1,000 mg/kg) were performed. The heart rate at 60 min for the vehicle and mycelium treatment was 700.3 ± 55.4 and 603.0 ± 42.3 bpm, respectively ( = .4279). For echocardiographic analysis, the LV mass of the vehicle and drug treatment was 86.7 ± 6.4 and 80.2 ± 7.7, respectively ( = .0933). In the respiratory test, the tidal volume of the vehicle and drug treatments was 0.11 ± 0.01 and 0.14 ± 0.01 at 60 min, respectively ( = .4262). These results demonstrate that the oral administration of HEA-enriched mycelia is safe for the CNS, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems.