These studies are not from the best journals you can find, but they are interesting.
Studies of Cordyceps militaris on anti-oxidative status and learning memory ability in senescence accelerated miceFitoterapia. 2009 Dec 4. [Epub ahead of print]
Protection of chronic renal failure by a polysaccharide from Cordyceps sinensis.
Wang Y, Yin H, Lv X, Wang Y, Gao H, Wang M.
School of Life Science and Technology, China Pharmaceutical University, 24 Tongjia Xiang, Nanjing 210009, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China.
A water-soluble polysaccharide (CPS-2), isolated from the cultured Cordyceps sinensis, was obtained by hot-water extraction, anion-exchange and gel permeation chromatography. Its structural characteristics were investigated by PMP pre-column derivation, periodate oxidation, methylation analysis, FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. CPS-2 was found to be mostly of alpha-(1-->4)-d-glucose and alpha-(1-->3)-D-mannose, branched with alpha-(1-->4,6)-d-glucose every twelve residues on average. CPS-2 had a molecular weight of 4.39x10(4)Da. The protective effect of CPS-2 on the model of chronic renal failure was established by fulgerizing kidney. The changes in blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine revealed that CPS-2 could significantly relieve renal failure caused by fulgerizing kidney. Copyright © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PMID: 19969045 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009 Nov 30. [Epub ahead of print]
A Contemporary Treatment Approach to Both Diabetes and Depression by Cordyceps sinensis, Rich in Vanadium.
Guo JY, Han CC, Liu YM.
Molecular Biology Laboratory of Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China. yongmei_l@126.com.
Diabetes mellitus is accompanied by hormonal and neurochemical changes that can be associated with anxiety and depression. Both diabetes and depression negatively interact, in that depression leads to poor metabolic control and hyperglycemia exacerbates depression. We hypothesize one novel vanadium complex of vanadium-enriched Cordyceps sinensis (VECS), which is beneficial in preventing depression in diabetes, and influences the long-term course of glycemic control. Vanadium compounds have the ability to imitate the action of insulin, and this mimicry may have further favorable effects on the level of treatment satisfaction and mood. C. sinensis has an antidepressant-like activity, and attenuates the diabetes-induced increase in blood glucose concentrations. We suggest that the VECS may be a potential strategy for contemporary treatment of depression and diabetes through the co-effect of C. sinensis and vanadium. The validity of the hypothesis can most simply be tested by examining blood glucose levels, and swimming and climbing behavior in streptozotocin-induced hyperglycemic rats.
PMID: 19948751 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Does anyone know of the vanadium content of supplements?
J Altern Complement Med. 2002 Jun;8(3):315-23.
A fermentation product of Cordyceps sinensis increases whole-body insulin sensitivity in rats.
Balon TW, Jasman AP, Zhu JS.
Department of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism, Gonda Research Center, Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope Medical Center, Duarte, CA, USA. tomwbalon@hotmail.com
Comment in:
J Altern Complement Med. 2002 Aug;8(4):403-5.
OBJECTIVE: CordyMax trade mark Cs-4 (Cs-4) is a standardized mycelial fermentation product of Cordyceps sinensis, a fungus that has been used for various pharmacologic, metabolic, and ergogenic purposes. The goal of this investigation was to determine the effects of oral Cs-4 administration on whole-body insulin sensitivity, skeletal muscle glucose transport, and endurance performance. DESIGN: We studied different indices of carbohydrate metabolism in rats that received Cs-4 orally at a dose of 2 g/kg of body weight daily for 30 days. RESULTS: C-peptide response observed during the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) after 10 days of treatment was significantly decreased in the Cs-4-treated group (Cs-4, 52,802 +/- 4,124 vs. control, 70,696 +/- 6309 pM x 120 min; p < 0.05). The integrated insulin area under the curve (53.3 +/- 4.9 ng/mL x 120 minutes) and the glucose-insulin index (6.6 +/- 0.6 units) obtained from the OGTT were significantly decreased (p < 0.01) in the Cs-4-treated group compared to their vehicle-treated counterparts (82.1 +/- 8.1 ng/mL x 120 minutes; 9.9 +/- 0.7 units) after 20 days of treatment. Neither integrated glucose area under the curve observed during either OGTT, basal- or insulin-stimulated 2-deoxyglucose transport nor skeletal muscle GLUT-4 concentrations were affected by Cs-4 treatment. In addition, swim time to exhaustion did not differ between groups in this animal model. CONCLUSION: We conclude that CordyMax Cs-4 may have potential beneficial effects by maintaining whole-body glucose disposal with a less pronounced increase in insulin secretion after a carbohydrate challenge, however, its effects on endurance performance remain questionable.
PMID: 12165189 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Invitro studies against cancer:
Zhong Yao Cai. 2007 Mar;30(3):310-3.
[Inhibitory effects of cordyceps extract on growth of colon cancer cells]
[Article in Chinese]
Huang H, Wang H, Luo RC.
Cancer Center, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510515, China.
OBJECTIVE: To observe the inhibiting effect of Cordyceps extract on the growth of colon cancer cell lines in vitro and its mechanism. METHODS: MTT assay was used to evaluate the inhibiting effect of Cordyceps extract on the proliferation of colon cancer cells. Report Gene was used to evaluate the relative NF-kappaB activity of the SW480 cells which were transfectd by pNF-kappaB-TA-Luc report gene. Western blot analysis was used to evaluate the content of IkappaBalpha in SW480 cells. RESULTS: Cordyceps extract could inhibit the proliferation of HT-29 and SW480 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Report gene showed that TNF-alpha enhance the activation of NF-kappaB in SW480 cells and Cordyceps extract Could decrease the activation of NF-kappaB induced by TNF-alpha in SW480 cells. Western blot analysis showed that TNF-alpha can induce the degradation of IkappaBalpha of SW480 cells and Cordyceps extract can inhibit it. CONCLUSION: Cordyceps extract can inhibit the proliferation of colon cancer cells through inhibiting the degradation of lkappaBalpha in the cell and inhibiting the activation of NF-kappaB.
PMID: 17634040 [PubMed - in process]
Clin Exp Pharmacol Physiol. 2004 Dec;31 Suppl 2:S51-3.
Antitumour activity of cordycepin in mice.
Yoshikawa N, Nakamura K, Yamaguchi Y, Kagota S, Shinozuka K, Kunitomo M.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Mukpgawa Women's University, Nishinomiya, Japan.
1. The antitumour effect of orally administered cordycepin, a component isolated from water extracts of Cordyceps sinensis, was examined in mice inoculated with B16 melanoma (B16-BL6) cells. 2. B16-BL6 (1 x 10(6)) cells were inoculated subcutaneously into the right footpad of mice. At 2 weeks after the cell inoculation, the enlarged primary tumour lump was weighed. Cordycepin (0, 5 and 15 mg/kg per day) was administered orally to the mice for 2 weeks from the date of tumour inoculation. Cordycepin (15 mg/kg per day) significantly reduced by 36% the wet weight of the primary tumour lump compared to that of the untreated control mice, without any loss of bodyweight or systemic toxicity. 3. Cordycepin (15 mg/kg per day) administered orally for 2 weeks inhibited the tumour enlargement in the right thigh inoculated with B16-BL6 cells premixed with extracellular matrix (Matrigel). 4. These results indicate that orally administered cordycepin inhibits melanoma cell growth in mice with no adverse effects.
PMID: 15649290 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
J Leukoc Biol. 2009 Jun;85(6):987-95. Epub 2009 Mar 4.
Two-sided effect of Cordyceps sinensis on dendritic cells in different physiological stages.
Li CY, Chiang CS, Tsai ML, Hseu RS, Shu WY, Chuang CY, Sun YC, Chang YS, Lin JG, Chen CS, Huang CL, Hsu IC.
National Tsing Hua University, 101, Section 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan.
Cordyceps sinensis (CS), a Chinese tonifying herb, has been widely used for centuries in Asian countries as a medicine and a health supplement. Although ample evidence indicates that CS can modulate immune responses, the functional effect of CS on dendritic cells (DCs) is still unclear. This study examines how CS affects human monocyte-derived DCs in two physiological states: naïve and LPS-induced inflammatory. Our experimental results demonstrate that CS acts as an activator and maturation inducer of immature DCs by stimulating the expression of costimulatory molecules and proinflammatory cytokines by DCs, enhancing the DC-induced, allogeneic T cell proliferation, and reducing the endocytic ability of DCs. In contrast, CS suppresses the LPS-induced, inflammatory response by decreasing the LPS-induced expression of costimulatory molecules and proinflammatory cytokines by DCs. CS also suppresses the LPS-induced, DC-elicited, allogeneic T cell proliferation and shifts the LPS-activated, DC-driven Th1 response toward a Th2 response. These results demonstrate that CS differentially regulates the DC activities according to the presence or absence of the inflammatory signs. Restated, with the lack of an ongoing inflammatory environment, CS primes DCs toward a Th1-type immunity, whereas in a potential inflammatory reaction, CS balances the over-reactivity of elicited Th1 immunity. This investigation illustrates the Yin-Yang balancing effects of CS as a medicine and a health supplement.
PMID: 19261928 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
J Pharm Pharmacol. 2009 Mar;61(3):279-91.
Cordyceps fungi: natural products, pharmacological functions and developmental products.
Zhou X, Gong Z, Su Y, Lin J, Tang K.
Plant Biotechnology Research Center, School of Agriculture and Biology, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, PR China. xanweizhou@sjtu.edu.cn
OBJECTIVES: Parasitic Cordyceps fungi, such as Cordyceps sinensis, is a parasitic complex of fungus and caterpillar, which has been used for medicinal purposes for centuries particularly in China, Japan and other Asian countries. This article gives a general idea of the latest developments in C. sinensis research, with regard to the active chemical components, the pharmacological effects and the research and development of products in recent years. KEY FINDINGS: The common names for preparations include DongChongXiaCao in Chinese, winter worm summer grass in English. It has many bioactive components, such as 3'-deoxyadenosine, cordycepic acid and Cordyceps polysaccharides. It is commonly used to replenish the kidney and soothe the lung, and for the treatment of fatigue. It also can be used to treat conditions such as night sweating, hyposexuality, hyperglycaemia, hyperlipidaemia, asthenia after severe illness, respiratory disease, renal dysfunction, renal failure, arrhythmias and other heart disease and liver disease. Because of its rarity and outstanding curative effects, several mycelia strains have been isolated from natural Cordyceps and manufactured by fermentation technology, and are commonly sold as health food products. In addition, some substitutes such as C. militaris and adulterants also have been used; therefore, quality control of C. sinensis and its products is very important to ensure their safety and efficacy. SUMMARY: Recent research advances in the study of Cordyceps, including Cordyceps mushrooms, chemical components, pharmacological functions and developmental products, has been reviewed and discussed. Developing trends in the field have also been appraised.
PMID: 19222900 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]