Planta Med 2011; 77 - PL32
DOI: 10.1055/s-0031-1282681

Antiprotozoal and cytotoxic activities of some mushrooms from Turkey

O Ustun 1, M Kaiser 2, D Tasdemir 3
  • 1Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey
  • 2Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland
  • 3Centre for Pharmacognosy & Phytotherapy, The School of Pharmacy, University of London, London WC1 1AX, UK

Protozoal infections still constitute a major health problem worldwide. Due to emerging resistance to common antiprotozoal agents, new drugs are urgently needed. Mushrooms are simple, non-photosynthetic organisms widespread in the world flora. Some are inedible or toxic, but many of them are used medicinally or in cooking. Some biological effects, e.g. antioxidant, immunomodulatory, antitumor, antimicrobial and antiprotozoal of mushrooms have been shown [1–4]. In this study, we evaluated the in vitro antiparasitic and cytotoxic potential of ethanolic extracts of some mushrooms growing in Turkey, namely Polyporus gilvus, P. sulphureus, P. annosus, P. rheades, P. pinicola, P. volvatus, P. badius, Cantharellus cibarius, Ganoderma applanatum, Fomes fomentarius, Clavulina cinerea, Cortinarius orellanus and Trametes versicolor. The test organisms used were Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense, T. cruzi, Leishmania donovani and Plasmodium falciparum. Cytotoxic effects of the extracts were also assessed towards primary mammalian L6 cells. All mushroom extracts were active against T. brucei rhodesiense with P. rheades being the most potent (IC50 0.59µg/ml). The most potent extracts against L. donovani and P. falciparum were those of P. gilvus, P. sulphureus, P. annosus, P. pinicola, F. fomentarius, C. cinerea and T. versicolor (IC50 values 1.39–2.73µg/ml). The extracts dispayed low or no cytotoxicity versus L6 cells. To our knowledge, this is the first biological activity and antiprotozoal screening study carried on Turkish mushrooms. The activity-guided isolation of the most active extracts is in progress.

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