UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS IN PROTECTING AGAINST NEUROINFLAMMATION

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterised by cognitive decline and emotional dysregulation. Despite its growing prevalence, effective treatments remain limited. A key pathological feature of AD is chronic neuroinflammation, marked by the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokine such as TNF-α and IL-6. Neuroinflammation is primarily mediated by glial cells, including microglia and astrocytes, which regulate the balance between pro- and anti- inflammatory signally in the brain. This sustained inflammatory response contributes to hallmark AD pathologies -amyloid plaque formation and tau hyperphosphorylation.
Lion's mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) has gained attention for its potential neuroprotective properties and has been used traditionally in East Asian medicine to support cognitive health in the elderly for centuries. Bioactive compounds found in H. erinaceus, erinacines and hericenones, are of particular interest due to their ability to cross the blood-brain-barrier and directly target the site of neurodegeneration.
Previous studies demonstrated that erinacine C reduces IL-6 and TNF-α production in LPS-stimulated BV2 microglial cells, while erinacine A suppresses TNF-α expression in astrocytes under inflammatory conditions. This study employs a matured human astrocyte model treated with a pro-inflammatory cytokine cocktail (TNF-α, IL1-α and Clq2) to mimic neuroinflammation, plus H. erinaceus extract treatment to assess its capacity to attenuate inflammatory responses, using qPCR to assay gene expression of C3. Additionally, HPLC has been conducted to characterise and evaluate the potency of specific bioactive compounds within the mushroom extract to gain insight into the exact compounds which are responsible for any effect that observed. ​