Planta Med 2010; 76 - P86
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1251848

Effects of Dietary Supplementation of Agaricus blazei Murril (Mushroom) in a Model of Antigen-Induced Arthritis (AIA)

WCB Régis 4, 5, JL Gonçalves 1, 2, AT Vieira 1, KD Silveira 1, CT Fagundes 1, MCC Arruda 1, D Cisalpino 1, TA Silva 3, JA Leite 2, MM Teixeira 1
  • 1Laboratório de Imunofarmacologia
  • 2Laboratório de Aterosclerose e Bioquímica Nutricional, Departamento de Bioquímica e Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas.
  • 3Departamento de Clinica, Patologia e Cirurgia – Faculdade de Odontologia
  • 4Minasfungi do Brasil
  • 5Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais – Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte – MG, 30 640 350 Brazil

Agaricus blazei Murril (ABM) is an edible mushroom, that grows naturally in Brazil and it is marketed and consumed in Japan because of their popular medicinal properties. ABM studies describe it as having nonspecific induction of immune system. An ABM proteoglycan stimulated mouse displayed dendritic cell maturation, NKT cells and macrophages activity. For this reason, research on the role of ABM in inflammatory processes, such as arthritis, is important. The aim of our study was to verify the influence of ABM, via oral supplementation, on antigen-induced Arthritis (AIA) in C57BL/6 mice. AIA was induced by administration of antigen into the knee joint of previously immunized mice. ABM arthritis group received ABM supplemented diet 5% for 1 week. Neutrophil accumulation in the tissue was measured by counting neutrophils in the synovial cavity and assaying myeloperoxidase activity. Levels of CXCL-1, CXCL-2, IL-1β and IL-10 were quantified by ELISA. Our results showed that ABM did not modify the number of total cells of blood although it increased levels of neutrophils in the blood compared to control groups. Data from synovial cavity showed a local decrease of cytokine and chemiokine production and lower number of neutrophils and total cells compared as to controls. These studied suggest that ABM is able to modify the inflammatory infiltration in the synovial cavity, however, further studies are needed to clarify the role of ABM in arthritis. Acknowledgements: CNPq, FAPEMIG, CAPES.