Birch fungus - Birch mushroom

[Mystic Wolf]

Birch fungus – Piptoporus betulinus

Common on dead birch, may have anti-tumor properties. One of the three fungi found on the body of the prehistoric Iceman found in the Austrian Alps. 

Pharmacological studies have provided evidence supporting the antibacterial, anti-parasitic, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, neuroprotective, and immunomodulating activities of F. betulina preparations. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11274-017-2247-0

Piptoporusbetulinus, commonly known as the birch polypore belonging to Fomitopsidaceae family has been studied in vitro for its anti-cancer activity. The fraction prepared from dried fruiting bodies was subjected to anti-cancer evaluation in human lung carcinoma (A549), colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and rat glioma (C6) cell cultures. P. betulinus fraction elicited anti-cancer effects that were attributed to decreased tumor cell proliferation, motility and the induction of morphological changes. Moreover, it produced no or low toxicity in tested normal cells (Lemieszek et al. 2009). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3339609/

 

Birch mushroom - Inonotus obliquus, Pilat, Chaga

Approved for public use against cancer by the Medical Academy of Science in Moscow in 1955. It has a long history of anti-cancer use. In vitro, Chaga has demonstrated anticancer, antitumor ^(12) (13), anti-mutagenic ⁽⁹⁾, antiviral ⁽¹⁴⁾, antiplatelet ⁽²⁾, antidiabetic ⁽¹⁵⁾, antioxidant ⁽⁸⁾, and analgesic ⁽³⁾ effects. In vivo studies also demonstrate immunomodulating ⁽¹⁶⁾, anti-inflammatory, and pain-relieving properties ⁽³⁾.

In animal studies, Chaga displayed anti-allergic ⁽¹⁷⁾, cognition-enhancing, and antioxidant activities ⁽¹⁸⁾. In murine colitis models, Chaga exerted anti-inflammatory effects ⁽¹⁹⁾. Oral administration of polysaccharides from Chaga increased exercise endurance and biological measures related to fatigue ⁽²⁰⁾. Antidiabetic effects have also been observed ^(4) (27).

2. Park YM, Won JH, Kim YH, et al. In vivo and in vitro anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects of the methanol extract of Inonotus obliquus. J Ethnopharmacol. Oct 3 2005;101(1-3):120-128.
3. Sun JE, Ao ZH, Lu ZM, et al. Antihyperglycemic and antilipidperoxidative effects of dry matter of culture broth of Inonotus obliquus in submerged culture on normal and alloxan-diabetes mice. J Ethnopharmacol. Jun 19 2008;118(1):7-13.
4. Lee SH, Hwang HS, Yun JW. Antitumor activity of water extract of a mushroom, Inonotus obliquus, against HT-29 human colon cancer cells. Phytother Res. Apr 15 2009.
5. Ham SS, Kim SH, Moon SY, et al. Antimutagenic effects of subfractions of Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) extract. Mutat Res. Jan 10 2009;672(1):55-59.
6. Ning X, Luo Q, Li C, et al. Inhibitory effects of a polysaccharide extract from the Chaga medicinal mushroom, Inonotus obliquus (higher Basidiomycetes), on the proliferation of human neurogliocy... Int J Med Mushrooms. 2014;16(1):29-36.
7. Pan HH, Yu XT, Li T, et al. Aqueous extract from a Chaga medicinal mushroom, Inonotus obliquus (higher Basidiomycetes), prevents herpes simplex virus entry throu... Int J Med Mushrooms. 2013;15(1):29-38.
8. Ying YM, Zhang LY, Zhang X, et al. Terpenoids with alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity from the submerged culture of Inonotus obliquus. Phytochemistry. Dec 2014;108:171-176.
9. Ko SK, Jin M, Pyo MY. Inonotus obliquus extracts suppress antigen-specific IgE production through the modu... J Ethnopharmacol. Oct 11 2011;137(3):1077-1082.
10. Yoon TJ, Lee SJ, Kim EY, et al. Inhibitory effect of chaga mushroom extract on compound 48/80-induc... Int Immunopharmacol. Apr 2013;15(4):666-670.
11. Giridharan VV, Thandavarayan RA, Konishi T. Amelioration of scopolamine induced cognitive dysfunction and oxidative stress by Inonotus obliquus - a medicinal mushroom. Food Funct. Jun 2011;2(6):320-327.
12. Mishra SK, Kang JH, Kim DK, et al. Orally administered aqueous extract of Inonotus obliquus ameliorates acute inflammation in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-ind... J Ethnopharmacol. Sep 28 2012;143(2):524-532.
13. Yue Z, Xiuhong Z, Shuyan Y, et al. Effect of Inonotus Obliquus Polysaccharides on physical fatigue in mice. J Tradit Chin Med. Aug 2015;35(4):468-472.
14. Kang JH, Jang JE, Mishra SK, et al. Ergosterol peroxide from Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) exhibits anti-cancer activity by down-regulation of the beta-cate... J Ethnopharmacol. Sep 15 2015; 173:303-312.
15. Wang J, Hu W, Li L, et al. Antidiabetic activities of polysaccharides separated from Inonotus obliquus via the modulation of oxidative https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/... PLoS One. 2017;12(6): e0180476. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180476
    https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/chaga-...

Inonotusobliquus (Chaga mushroom) belonging to Aphyllophoromycetodeae, one of the widely known medicinal mushrooms, has been used to treat various cancers in Russia and most of the Baltic countries for many centuries. Hot-water and ethanol extract of I. obliquus has ability to induce apoptosis in human colon cancer (DLD-1) cells by prevention of reactive oxygen species (ROS)-induced tissue damage (Hu et al. 2009). Youn et al. (2009) examined the anti-proliferative effects of water extract of I. obliquus extract on murine melanoma (B16-F10) cells. The extract not only inhibited the growth of B16-F10 cells by arresting cell cycle at G₀/G₁ phase and causing apoptosis but also induced cell differentiation. These effects were associated with the down-regulation of pRb, p53, and p27 expression levels, and further showed that I. obliquus extract resulted in a G₀/G₁ cell cycle arrest with a reduction of cyclin E/D1 and Cdk 2/4 expression levels. Furthermore, the anti-tumor effect of I. obliquus extract was assessed in vivo in Balb/c mice. Intraperitoneal administration of I. obliquus extracts significantly inhibited the growth of tumor mass in B16-F10 cells implanted mice, resulting in a 3-fold inhibition at a dose of 20 mg/kg/day for 10 days. The ethanolic extract of sclerotium and fruiting body of I. obliquus elicited significant anti-tumor activity, 74.6 and 44.2%, respectively (Yong et al. 2011).