Antrodia camphorata is a highly valued mushroom that is endemic to Taiwan. It is rare and cannot be cultivated because it grows only on the evergreen Cinnamonum kanehirai.
The fruiting body of A. camphorata has been traditionally used as a medicine to treat food intoxication and liver disease by the Taiwanese.
However, “since the traditional medicinal uses of A. camphorata are not fully investigated and its other effects have not been clarified, as part of our continued search for novel bioactive natural food, we investigated the antimelanogenesis, antioxidation effect of the ethanolic extract of A. camphorata fruiting body (EE-AC), as well as its antiproliferation effects in B16-F0 mouse melanoma cells,” wrote academics in the journal Plos One.
“This study is the first to explore new applications of A. camphorata, which provides valuable information about the development of potential depigmenting agents such as skin-whitening cosmetics and a multifunctional healthy food for skin cancer prevention.”
The researchers said a wound-healing assay test on B16-F0 melanoma cells showed EE-AC supressed cell migration better than a common chemotherapeutic agent.
“Melanoma is a highly malignant tumor with a high metastatic rate. Hence, wound healing assay was performed to evaluate cancer cell migration ability. We compared EE-AC with the negative control group (0.1% DMSO) and the positive control group (10 μM cisplatin).
“The results demonstrated that EE-AC significantly suppressed the migration of B16-F0 cells in a time-dependent manner, and its inhibitory effect was even more significant than that of cisplatin, a common chemotherapeutic agent for solid malignancies.”
Inhibition of cell migration
In terms of its antioxidant potential, the DPPH radical scavenging activity of EE-AC was compared with vitamin C.
It was found to be highly effective with 82.98% activity, which was almost as great as the 88.12% activity of vitamin C (0.5 mg/mL).
“It is considered that EE-AC acted as a direct free radical scavenger in the antioxidant activity,” stated the researchers, led by Chu-l Lee from Fooyin University inTaiwan.
They added that EE-AC displayed hypo-pigmenting action, making it a good candidate for skin-whitening materials.
The study concluded that that the inhibition of cell migration and viability results imply that EE-AC is a potential anti-cancer agent for skin cancer.
“The results may provide new insight and deepen the understanding of the chemopreventive properties of EE-AC,” they wrote.
“Moreover, these results offer the possibility of developing the A. camphorata fruiting body into healthy food supplements for effective chemopreventive treatment for skin cancer.
“Nevertheless, further research on the effectiveness of EE-AC treatment in melanoma cells is still necessary,” they added.
Source: PLOS One
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0170924
“Antimelanogenic, Antioxidant and Antiproliferative Effects of Antrodia camphorata Fruiting Bodies on B16-F0 Melanoma Cells.”
Authors: Chu-l Lee, et al.