Lentinan is a

polysaccharide Polysaccharides (), or polycarbohydrates, are the most abundant carbohydrates found in food. They are long chain polymeric carbohydrates composed of monosaccharide units bound together by glycosidic linkages. This carbohydrate can react with w ...

isolated from the fruit body of

shiitake The shiitake (alternate form shitake) (; ''Lentinula edodes'') is an edible mushroom native to East Asia, which is now cultivated and consumed around the globe. It is considered a Medicinal fungi, medicinal mushroom in some forms of tradition ...

mushroom (''Lentinula edodes''

mycelium Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates ...

Chemistry

Lentinan is a β-1,3

beta-glucan Beta-glucans, β-glucans comprise a group of β-D-glucose polysaccharides (glucans) naturally occurring in the cell walls of cereals, bacteria, and fungi, with significantly differing physicochemical properties dependent on source. Typically, � ...

with β-1,6 branching. It has a molecular weight of 500,000 Da and specific rotation of +14-22° (NaOH).

Research

Preclinical studies

An ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called " test-tube experiments", these studies in biology a ...

'' experiment showed lentinan stimulated production of white blood cells in the human cell line U937. Lentinan is thought to be inactive in humans when given orally and is therefore administered intravenously. The authors of an ''

in vivo Studies that are ''in vivo'' (Latin for "within the living"; often not italicized in English) are those in which the effects of various biological entities are tested on whole, living organisms or cells, usually animals, including humans, and p ...

'' study of lentinan suggested that the compound may be active when administered orally in mice.

Human clinical trials

Lentinan has been the subject of a limited number of clinical studies in cancer patients in Japan; however, evidence of

efficacy Efficacy is the ability to perform a task to a satisfactory or expected degree. The word comes from the same roots as ''effectiveness'', and it has often been used synonymously, although in pharmacology a distinction is now often made between ...

is lacking.

Adverse effects

Lentinan has been reported to cause

shiitake mushroom dermatitis Shiitake mushroom dermatitis is an intensely pruritic dermatitis characterized by disseminated 1mm erythematous micropapules seen in a linear grouped arrangement secondary to Koebnerization due to patient scratching. It is caused by the ingest ...

References

External links

Lentinan
effects (antitumor and others) *Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center's page fo
Lentinan
{{Carbohydrates Immunostimulants Polysaccharides