Polysaccharides from the fungus scleroderma

Abstract

Research with natural products is an alternative, which includes several bioproducts from bacteria, plant, animal, insect, and marine organisms. Such bioproducts include polysaccharides, proteins, dietary fibers, and many other biomolecules. Studies on fungus have attracted considerable interest for its application in the pharmaceutical and food industry. The anti-inflammatory potential of polysaccharides from the fungus Scleroderma nitidum Berk. and their possible action mechanism were studied. The effect of these polymers on the inflammatory process was tested using the carrageenan-and histamine-induced paw edema model and the sodium thioglycolate-and zymosan-induced models. The polysaccharides from S. nitidum were effective in reducing edema and cell infiltrate in both inflammation models tested. Nitric oxide, a mediator in the inflammatory process, also showed a low reduction. Analysis of pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines showed that in the groups treated with polysaccharides from S. nitidum, there was an increase in cytokines such as IL-1ra, IL-10, and MIP-1 concomitant with the decrease in 17INF-and IL-2. The influence of polysaccharides on the modulation of the expression of nuclear factor B showed that this compound reduced the expression of NF-B by up to 64 %. This suggests that NF-B modulation also explains the anti-inflammatory effect of polysaccharides from the fungus S. nitidum.