Effects of Medicinal Fungi-Derived β-Glucan on Tumor Progression

β-Glucans have been studied in animal species, from earthworms to humans. They form a heterogenous group of glucose polymers found in fungi, plants, bacteria, and seaweed. β-Glucans have slowly emerged as an important target for the recognition of pathogens. In the current review, we highlight the major roles of mushroom-derived β-glucans on cancer progression.

Keywords:

β-glucan; mushrooms; cancer; immune; health

• Introduction

To use natural products as a possible remedy is weaved into the history of mankind. People have been appealing to nature to cure various diseases since ancient times. The first documented history of plant preparation and medicinal use is a record on Sumerian clay tablets from the period of 4000 BCE. There is also an approximately 5000-year-old written Indian document about medicinal effects of mushrooms. Indian Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine can serve as examples of healing trends which have been developed through empirical experience. A physician of Marcus Aurelius emphatically pioneered the treatment of diseases by using the specific diets of Galen of Pergamum. Several centuries later, J. Lind [1] used 200-year-old Dutch knowledge of the benefits of citrus fruits to the health of the sailors on long voyages, and conducted one of the first large-scale clinical medical trials. Japanese legend indicates that monkeys without cancer or any other disease fed on the mushroom Lentinula edodes. Medicinal plants are common