In vitro anti-inflammatory activity of selected Japanese higher Basidiomycetes mushrooms

Mycelial extracts (ethyl acetate and 70% ethanol) of 20 higher Basidiomycetes edible or medicinal mushrooms and culture media extracts (ethyl acetate and Butan-1-ol) were evaluated for in vitro anti-inflammatory activity using the cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 enzymes (COX-1 and -2). Generally, 70% ethanolic extracts showed lower inhibitory activity against both enzymes compared to ethyl acetate extracts. Of the mushrooms tested, the ethyl acetate extracts of Ganoderma applanata, Naematoloma sublateritium, Pleurotus eryngii, and P. salmoneostramineus showed the highest COX-2 inhibitory effects (IC50 values of 49.7, 80.6, 121.7, and 115.8 mu g/mL, respectively) compared to COX-1 inhibition (IC50 values of 125.3, 156, 188.9, and 250 mu g/mL, respectively). Of the culture media tested in this study, only the ethyl acetate extracts of the culture medium of Agrocybe cylindracea exhibited high inhibition of the COX-2 enzyme.