Cytotoxic Effects of Extracts from Tremella fuciformis Strain FB001 on the Human Colon Adenocarcinoma Cell Line DLD-l

Cytotoxic effects of extracts from Tremella fuciformis strain FB001 were evaluated on the DLD-1 human colon adenocarcinoma cell line and the content of polyphenolic compounds in the extracts were analyzed. Hexane, chloroform, and ethyl acetate subfractions (experimental setting I) exhibited cytotoxic effects on the human colon adenocarcinoma DLD-1 cell line with $IC_{50}$ values of 350, 400, and 450 ppm, respectively. When T. fuciformis was extracted sequentially with ether, ethyl acetate, chloroform, and ethanol (experimental setting II), the ether extract demonstrated potent cytotoxicity with an $IC_{50}$ value of 150 ppm, followed by ethyl acetate and chloroform fractions. If the first extraction solvent was chloroform instead of ether (experimental setting III), exposure of the cell line to chloroform, ethyl acetate, and ether extracts at 1,000 ppm led to cell death. High levels of phenolic compounds were estimated for all hydrophobic extracts, which exhibited cytotoxic effects. We propose that this useful information gives additional support to our understanding of the biology and utility of this particular mushroom.