PMC full text:
Table 3
Cytokine Modulation
| Mushroom | In Vivo/Vitro/Model | Cytokine | Pattern | Dose/Preparation | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agaricus | In vivo, mouse cancer |
IFN-γ |
TH1 | 350 mg PO QD; hot water extract | Takimoto et al, 200815 |
| Agaricus | In vivo, mouse leukemia |
IFN-γ IL-6 IL-1β IL-4 |
TH1 PI | 3 or 6 mg/kg PO × 3 wk; hot water extract | Lin, Fan, and Tang, 201216 |
| Reishi | In vivo, advanced human lung cancer, prospective nonplacebo controlled trial with 36 participants |
IL-2 56% IL-6 56% IFN-γ 56% IL-1 56.7% TNF-α 66.6% |
TH1 PI | 5.4 g/d PO; Ganopoly × 12 wk; hot water extraction, then 75% ethanol extraction, then purified by gel filtration | Gao et al, 200517 |
| Reishi | In vivo, human late-stage cancer, prospective nonplacebo controlled trial with 34 participants |
IL-2 IL-6 IFN-γ IL-1 TNF-α |
TH1 PI | 1800 mg Ganopoly PO TID × 3 mo; hot water extraction, then 75% ethanol extraction, then purified by gel filtration | Gao et al, 200318 |
| Reishi | In vivo, mouse CT26 cancer |
NF-κB TNF-α IL-1β |
TH1 PI | 50, 100, 200 mg/kg IP; standardized PSG-1 polysaccharide, compared to 5-fluorouracil or normal saline | Zhang et al, 201319 |
| Reishi | In vivo, mouse lung cancer |
IL-2 IFN-γ NF-κB |
TH1 | 28 mg/kg IP; ganoderic acid-Me purified from Ganoderma lucidum | Wang et al, 200720 |
| Reishi | In vivo, mouse sarcoma 180 |
IFN-γ TNF-α |
TH1 PI | 50, 100, 200 mg/kg IP; Ganoderma polysaccharides | Wang et al, 201221 |
| Reishi | Ex vivo, S-180 sarcoma mouse model |
IFN-γ IL-4 IL-6 |
TH1 | 200 mg/kg IP/d; sporoderms and stipe broken extracts | Yue et al, 200822 |
| Reishi | In vitro, mouse cancer cell line |
IL-6 TNF-α |
PI | 50, 100, 200 mg/mL; broken spores dissolved in water, then extracted with ethanol | Guo et al, 200923 |
| Reishi | In vitro, precancerous uroepithelial cells (HUC-PC cell line) |
IL-2 IL-6 NF-κB IL-8 |
PI | 40, 80, 100 mg/mL; ethanol extraction only | Yuen, Gohel, and Ng, 201124 |
| Reishi | In vitro, inflammatory breast cancer cell line |
IL-8 |
PI | 0.5, 1.0 mg/mL every 48 h for 96 h; extract of fruiting body and cracked spores | Martinez-Montemayor et al, 201125 |
| Maitake | Ex vivo, human breast cancer participants posttreatment |
IFN-γ IL-10 TNF-α |
TH1 | Dose escalation up to 5 mg/kg PO BID for 21 d; hot water extraction followed by alcohol precipitation, packaged by Gaia Herbs | Deng et al, 200926 |
| Maitake | Ex vivo, mouse colon cancer model |
IFN-γ IL-12p70 |
TH1 | 7.8 mg/kg/d IP for 19 d; D-fraction of dried maitake | Kodama et al, 200227 |
| Maitake | In vivo, mouse cancer cisplatin treatment |
IL-12p70 IL-12p40 IFN-γ G-CSF M-CSF |
TH1 | 8 mg/kg/d IP; water extraction followed by alcohol precipitation, MD-fraction | Masuda et al, 200928 |
| Maitake | In vivo, mouse colon-cancer model |
IL-12 |
TH1 | 8 mg/kg/d IP; water extraction followed by alcohol precipitation, MD-fraction | Masuda et al, 200829 |
| Maitake | In vivo, mouse carcinoma model |
TNF-α IFN-γ IL-12 |
TH1 | 5 mg/kg/d PO for 19 d; water extraction followed by alcohol precipitation, D-fraction | Kodama et al, 200230 |
| Maitake | In vivo, mouse carcinoma model |
IL-4 IFN-γ IL-12p70 IL-18 |
TH1 TH2 | 5 mg/kg/d PO QD for 20 d; D-fraction | Inoue, Kodama, and Nanba, 200231 |
| Maitake | In vivo, mouse colon-cancer model |
TNF-α IFN-γ IL-12 IL-1 |
TH1 | 7.5, 15.0 mg IP QD for 7 d; hot water extract with an ethanol precipitation, followed by complex gel column fractionations for MLP fraction | Kodama et al, 201032 |
| Maitake | In vivo, mouse colon-cancer model |
IFN-γ IL-12p70 |
TH1 | 7.8 mg/kg/d IP; hot water extract with an the ethanol precipitation for D fraction | Harada, Kodama, and Nanba, 200333 |
| Maitake | In vitro, human mononuclear cells |
IFN-γ TNF-α |
TH1 | 12.5, 11, and 200 mg/mL; intracellular fractions of fruiting body | Svagelj et al, 200834 |
| Cordyceps | In vitro, mouse lymphoma cell line |
IL-1 IL-2 |
PI | 200 mg/mL Cordyceps sinensis or 100 mg/mL 1,3-β-glucan | Kawanishi et al, 201035 |
| Turkey Tail | In vivo, TLR2 knockout Mice vs normal mice |
IL-12 only in normal mice |
TH1 | 1–100 mg/mL × 96 h; purified PSK | Lu et al, 201136 |
| Turkey Tail | In vitro, breast cancer cell line |
TNF-α IFN-γ IL-12 |
TH1 | 10 mg/mL; purified PSK | Lu et al, 201137 |
| Turkey Tail | In vitro, TLR2 knockout mice vs normal mice |
IFN-γ IL-12p70 TNF-α IL-12p40 IL-2 all inhibited by TLR2 knockout |
TH1 | 1–100 mg/mL × 96 h; purified PSK | Lu et al, 201136 |
Abbreviations: PO=by mouth; QD=every day; TID=3×/d; IP=intraperitoneal; PSG-1=Ganoderma atrum polysaccharide; BID=2×/d; PSK=polysaccharide K.

IFN-γ
IL-4