Medicinal and Edible Fungi as an Alternative Medicine for Treating Age-Related Disease

Age-related diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer involve epigenetic modifications, where accumulation of minute changes in the epigenome over time leads to disease manifestation. Epigenetic changes are influenced by life style and diets. This represents an avenue whereby dietary components could accelerate or prevent age-related diseases through their effects on epigenetic modifications. Therefore, new therapeutic approaches are needed to treat them more efficiently. The lack of effective and widely applicable pharmacological treatments for ischemic stroke patients may explain a growing interest in traditional medicines. Some of basid-iomycetous fungi produce substances with potential medical effects and are called medicinal mushrooms. Fungi (yeasts, molds, and mushrooms) have diverse morphological, physiological , and ecological characteristics that support their diverse lifestyles. These specific interspecies interactions depend on the production of a wide range of bioactive substances. Higher fungi are well recognized for their medicinal properties and have been used in traditional medicine for millennia. The medicinal effects attributed to fungi, based mainly on uncharacterized substances or extracts, include effects. Cordyceps sinensis (CS) has been used as a tonic for longevity, endurance, and vitality for thousands of years by the Chinese. Many studies have shown that CS regulates insulin sensitivity and decreases plasma cholesterol levels. W. Qi et al. investigated the protective effect of cordymin on diabetic osteopenia in alloxan-induced diabetic rats and the possible mechanisms involved. The diabetic rats received daily intraperitoneal injection with cordymin (20, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day) for 5 weeks. Cordymin could restore the circulating blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), serum alkaline phosphatase (ALP), tartrate resistant acid phosphatase (TRAP), and insulin levels in a dose-dependent manner. Also, the treatment of diabetic rats with cordymin could partially reverse the í µí»½ cells death and decrease the total antioxidant status (TAOS) in the diabetic rats. The results may directly and indirectly account for the possible mechanism of the beneficial effect of cordymin on diabetic osteopenia. The basidiomycete Agaricus blazei Murill (AbM), popularly known as " sun mushroom, " is native to Brazil and widely grown in Japan and China because of its medicinal properties. It is widely used for nonprescript, medicinal purposes, both as an edible mushroom and in the form of extracts. AbM has traditionally been used for the prevention of a range of diseases, including cancer, hepatitis, atherosclerosis, hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and dermatitis. P. Wang et al. investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of water-soluble polysaccharide of Agaricus blazei Murill …