• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.187-191
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• 2010

Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) has been identified to have various biological activities. This study was performed to investigate the potential of chaga mushroom as a immunomodulating functional food. When mouse splenocytes were exposed to various concentration of hot water extracts of chaga mushroom (IOE) with mitogens (Con A, LPS), splenocytes proliferation was significantly increased. Also, IFN-$\gamma$ and IL-4 levels were significantly enhanced. Therefore, our results suggest that chaga mushroom may have the potential of being an immunomodulating functional food.

• Korean Journal of Pharmacognosy
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• v.35 no.1 s.136
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• pp.92-97
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• 2004

Effect of AGI $({\alpha}-Glucosidase\;Inhibitor)-1120$, pine (Pinus densiflora) bark extract and Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) - and Chaga mushroom mycelium extracts on cellular $NF-{\kappa}B$ activation in malignant human keratinocytes (SCC-13) were evaluated to elucidate the possible correlation of $NF-{\kappa}B$ with antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activities of these natural products were examined in three different evaluation methods, i.e., lipid peroxidation value (POV) evaluation test, and 1,1diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging test. In a cell-based $NF-{\kappa}B$ monitoring assay systern, all samples revealed the downregulatory profiles on the cellular $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity. AGI -1120 (1, 2 mg) and Chaga mushroom extract (0.05, 0.1 mg) downregulated the $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity in a dose-dependent manner. Chaga mushroom mycelium extract (5 mg) significantly inhibited the $NF-{\kappa}B$ activity (p<0.05). Although AGI-1120 and Chaga mushroom mycelium extract exhibited no antioxidant activities evaluated in pay, Chaga mushroom extract showed antioxidant in a dose-dependent manner at concentrations of $0.05{\sim}1$ mg. While AGI-1120 and Chaga mushroom extract possessed a relatively potential DPPH radical scavenging activity, the NO scavenging activity of Chaga mushroom extract $(SC_{50}:47\;{mu}g)$ was higher than the known antioxidant, vitamin C $(SC_{50}:77\;{mu}g)$. These results suggest that AGI-1120 and Chaga mushroom- and Chaga mushroom mycelium extracts may serve as an useful radical scavenging antioxidant agents with $NF-{\kappa}B$ inhibitory effect in human skin.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.204-208
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• 2007

Chaga mushroom extract is well known as immune modulator and anti-cancer agent. However, the molecular mechanism by which Chaga exerts cell cycle arrest and apoptosis of cancer cells is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated anti-proliferative effects of Chaga extract on murine melanoma B16 cells. Chaga extract dose-dependently inhibited cell growth along with the arrest of G0/G1 phase and the induction of apoptotic cell death. Treatment with Chaga extract resulted in a decrease of cyclin E, cyclin D1, cdk 2, cdk 4 expression levels. Furthermore, in vivo inoculation study of B16 melanoma cells into Balb/c mice Chaga extract markedly suppressed the metastatic growth of tumor cells (6 folds, p<0.05,). These results indicate that Chaga mushroom extract induces apoptosis of B16 melanoma cells through arrest of G0/G1 phase in cell cycle.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.154-158
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• 2007

Adsorption isotherms for chaga mushroom powder as influenced by particle size were investigated using a gravimetric technique. Samples were equilibrated in desiccators containing sulfuric acid solutions of known water activity (0.11-0.93), then placed in temperature-controlled chambers for approximately ten days. Equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of chaga mushroom powder increased with water activity in all samples. EMC was slightly greater in the samples comprised of smaller particle size, however there was no marked difference in appearance between the three samples. The chaga mushroom powder exhibited Type II behavior. When the BET model was used to determine mean monolayer values, 0.077, 0.077, and 0.070 $H_2O/dry$ solid was observed for <250, 250-425, and $425-850\;{\mu}m$ sized samples, respectively, however mean monolayer values were 0.121, 0.111, and 0.101 $H_2O/dry$ solid, respectively, when the GAB model was used. The experimental EMC values were related to the computed values from Henderson's model. The coefficient of determination and standard error for the linear regression were 0.997 and 0.003, respectively.

• The Korean Journal of Mycology
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.241-245
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• 2017

Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus), which has invaluable medicinal uses, grows only on living trees. To date, it is still harvested from its natural habitat and is not cultivated artificially. We artificially cultivated chaga mushrooms by inoculating its sawdust spawns on Betula platyphylla var. japonica in 2007, and monitored mushroom growth on the inoculated trees for 9 years. The mushrooms grew less than 1 cm per year, with the largest mushroom growing up to 9 cm in the 9 years of study. There was no difference in the growth (diameter at breast height) of trees with viable and non-viable I. obliquus. In conclusion, artificial cultivation of chaga mushroom was successful. Our findings suggest that selection of large B. platyphylla var. japonica as host tree could lead to better I. obliquus productivity. Further improvements of the method are needed to increase the success rate of I. obliquus inoculation.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.451-458
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• 2011

The medicinal mushroom Inonotus obliquus is a traditional and widely used multi-functional fungus. In this study, we have investigated whether Inonotus obliquus (Chaga mushroom) extracts exerts anti-oxidant effects on cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in auditory cell line, HEI-OC1 cells. First of all, Chaga extracts has no harmful effects on viability of HEI-OC1 cells in the dose range of $65{\sim}125{\mu}g/m{\ell}$. Moreover, it shows cyto-protective effects on the cells treated with cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity in HEI-OC1 cells and the damage of hair cells arrays of the rat primary organ of Corti explants in the presence of cisplatin. Pretreatment with Chaga extracts inhibited the cell death, reactive oxygen species generation (ROS), lipid peroxidation induced by cisplatin. These effects were associated with the induction of antioxidant enzyme by Chaga extracts. We further investigated the effects of Chaga extracts on expression of antioxidant enzymes such as Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD 1) and Mn SOD (SOD 2) by RT-PCR. In addition, Chaga extracts shows SOD activity and SOD protein expression in cisplatin treated group induced similar to control group. Taken together, these results indicate that Chaga extracts can prevent cisplatin-induced cytotoxicity by radical-scavenging activity (SOD activity) in HEI-OC1 cells. It might be an effective as antioxidant and further studies on the chemo-preventive mechanisms of Inonotus obliquus are needed.

• Biomedical Science Letters
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.253-260
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• 2011

Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) extract has been known to have therapeutic effects, such as anti-inflammatory, hepato-protective, anti-oxidant and anti-tumor effect. In this study, we evaluated the effects of Chaga extract on the cytotoxic actions of cisplatin in HepG2 hepatoma cells. The viability of the HepG2 cells was decreased to 10% at 3 ${\mu}M$ cisplatin and to 20% at 500 ${\mu}g$/ml Chaga extract as measured by the MTT assay. The viability of HepG2 cells co-treated with cisplatin (3 ${\mu}M$) and Chaga extract (500 ${\mu}g$/ml) was decreased to 50% in compared with the control cells. The cytotoxicity of two drugs was revealed as apoptosis characterized by the chromatic condensation, nuclear fragmentation and the cleavage of pro caspase-3 in HepG2 cells. Also, the cells treated with combination of two drugs showed synergistically the loss of mitochondrial membrane potential and increase of intracellular ROS levels. Therefore, these results suggest that the combination treatment of cisplatin and Chaga extract induces apoptotic cell death in HepG2 cells and has more potential anti-tumor effect than cisplatin alone.

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.122-127
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• 2006

The effects of fermented chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) powder on the lipid concentrations and the activities of liver marker enzymes of serum in genetically diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima fatty (OLETF) rats were investigated. Rats were fed a semisynthetic diet supplemented with 50 g/kg chaga mushroom powder (CM) or 50 g/kg fermented chaga mushroom powder (FCM) for 8 weeks (26 to 34 weeks of age). Nondiabetic Long-Evans Toknshima Otsuka (LETO) rats were used as age-matched nondiabetic control animals. Water consumption was significantly higher in the OLETF control than the LETO rats. Water consumption in the FCM-fed OLETF rats tended to be less than in both the OLETF control and CM-fed OLETF rats. Serum concentrations of triglycerides and total cholesterol were significantly higher in the OLETF control rats than in the LETO rats while within the OLETF rat groups, the consumption of FCM resulted in a significantly lower serum triglyceride concentration and slightly lowered serum total cholesterol concentration when compared to the OLETF control and CM-fed rats. The alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity was significantly higher in the OLETF control than in the LETO rats, but this difference was significantly reduced compared to the CM-fed rats and essentially no difference in the ALT levels was observed between the LETO and OLETF-FCM rats. This observation suggests an adaptive effect of the fermented chaga mushroom in liver function. Livers of the LETO rats showed no histopathological changes, whereas those of the OLETF control rats were characterized by many fat depositions in the central zone of the hepatocytes. The livers of the OLETF CM-fed rats showed less fatty changes compared to the OLETF control rats and fat deposition in the hepatocytes was nearly absent. These results suggest that orally ingested fermented chaga mushroom has a potential beneficial effect on the complications known to occur in the obesity-related non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NlDDM) OLETF rat.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2007

The effects of drying methods on the physicochemical properties of chaga (Inonotus obliquus) mushroom powder were investigated. Scanning electron micrograph revealed that freeze drying produced smaller particle- sized samples which in turn resulted in higher porosity than did vacuum and hot-air drying. Samples prepared by freeze drying showed a significantly higher L*-value as compared with those prepared by hot-air drying and vacuum drying (p<0.05). The lightness (L*-value) significantly decreased with increasing relative humidity and storage temperature regardless of drying method (p<0.05). The yellowness (b*-value) increased significantly with increasing relative humidity (p<0.05). Browning index was significantly lower in samples prepared by freeze drying (p<0.05) but not significantly different between samples dried by hot-air and vacuum drying. Freeze dried sample exhibited a significantly higher degree of rehydration than other samples (p<0.05) probably due to the small particle size. Water solubility of the freeze dried sample was higher than those of the other methods while swelling ratio of the same sample appeared to be lower than those of others. Freeze dried chaga mushroom powder contained significantly lower amount of total phenolics and total sugar as compared to other samples (p<0.05).

• Food Science and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.739-745
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• 2006

Changes in the levels of analytes in the blood and urine of a rodent animal model were taken as a measure of the hypoglycemic effects of a diet containing fermented chaga mushroom. These studies were conducted using the genetically manipulated diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rat. The effects of 8-week long diets that included either fermented (FCM) or non-fermented (CM) chaga mushroom powder (5% in the diet) on the OLETF rat were compared to the normal diet fed OLETF rat and the non-diabetic Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rat. Hypoglycemia was tracked by measuring serum and urine concentrations of glucose, insulin, fructosamine, and leptin. Serum and urine levels of glucose, fructosamine, and leptin in the OLETF rats were higher than in LETO rats when fed normal diets but insulin levels did not differ between the two animal groups. The FCM rats were characterized by dramatically low levels of serum glucose and leptin in the OLETF rats whereas the levels of fructosamine and urine glucose trended lower in response to FCM. The serum leptin level in the CM-fed OLETF rat was also lower than that in the normal diet fed OLETF control. Serum concentrations of insulin in the OLETF rats were higher following FCM or CM feeding compared to the normal diet. These observations imply that (a) a dietary supplement of fermented chaga mushroom may contribute to a hypoglycemic effect in the OLETF rat, and (b) the increased blood insulin concentration following 8 weeks of an FCM diet may be important to the noted improvement in hyperglycemia.