Immune augmentation and Dalton's Lymphoma tumor inhibition by glucans/glycans isolated from the mycelia and fruit body of Pleurotus ostreatus.

With the increase in cancer progression, alternatives in the medicinal field with minimal side effects need to be ascertained. In this context, for the first time novel glucans/glycans isolated from the mycelia and fruit body of Pleurotus ostreatus have been compared for their exquisite property as immunoceuticals. Glucans from both the sources displayed immunological functions which include lymphocyte proliferation, macrophage activation (nitric oxide production, ROS generation, phagocytosis, TNF-α production) as well as macrophage and NK cell mediated cytotoxicity. In vivo studies with Dalton's Lymphoma mice tumor model further enumerated the immune enhancing and tumor regression potential of the two glucan molecules. Highest tumor inhibition of about 75% and 71.4% were observed at 20mg/kg of mycelia and fruit body glucan/glycan treatments. A concomitant increase in the survival period of glucan treated tumor bearing mice was found to be primarily associated with immune boosting and apoptosis of cancerous cells. Both the glucan molecules exhibited similar degree of immune response at the systemic level with only subtle amount of differences in two dimensional in vitro cultures. Efficacy of glucans/glycans as immunomodulators may thereby provide decisive leads in strengthening the immune system along with other therapies.