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Chaga Research The
post-antibiotic world of Western Medicine is now beginning to study,
evaluate, and test Chaga for the active compounds underlying its
historically understood homeopathic benefits. As with many other natural
medicinal foods and herbs, the modern medical and scientific community
is coming to understand that whole supplements like Chaga, offer a
complex balance of active compounds, delivery mineral structures, and
co-agents, more effective to sustaining a healthy immune balance than
isolated compounds synthesized from these natural products.
The primary active compounds discovered in Siberian
Chaga are a variety of triterpenes and sterols, including Lanosterol,
Ergosterol Inotodials, Saponins, and Polysaccharides. Modern research is
now beginning to demonstrate that these compounds are effective for
human maladies treated by folk medicine practitioners with natural
products, without toxic side-effect, for millennia.
After being ignored for hundreds of years by western
pharmacologists, Chaga is currently enjoying a resurgence as a possible
treatment for a wide variety of diseases and health problems, including
chronic fatigue syndrome, the flu, stomach problems, and even HIV and
certain types of cancer. Recent studies in the U.S., Russia, and other
countries have shown Chaga to have anti-tumor benefits related to the
mammary glands and female sex organs; studies in Finland have
demonstrated that inotodial, one of the most active
ingredients in Chaga, was effective against influenza virus and
various cancer cells; and Japanese research not only found
similar antiviral activity, but also discovered that Chaga
shows activity against HIV (protease inhibition). Chaga has
even been classified as a medicinal mushroom under World Trade
Organization (WTO) codes.
Arguably, the most well known western research
conducted on the use of Chaga has been performed by Dr. Kirsti Kahlos
and her team at School of Pharmacology, at the University of Helsinki,
Finland. Dr. Kahlos’ team conducted studies validating the immuno-modulating
impact of Lanosterol-linked triterpenes effective as a flu-vaccination
and for anti-tumor applications.
Institutional studies at the University of Tokyo,
Japan have determined effectiveness of Inotodials in the destruction of
certain carcinosarcomas and mammary adenocarcinomas. The
Melanin complex produced by the Chaga mushroom demonstrates high
antioxidant and genoprotective effects ( Melanin Complex from Medicinal
Mushroom Inonotus Obliquus, Journal of Medical Mushrooms, 2002, vol. 4)
. The polysaccharide beta-glucan, also present in Chaga, is proven to be
effective at inhibiting mutagenic and immuno-modulating effects of
cancerous tumors by triggering immune system response (SP Wasser, 2002,
Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Israel).
In 1998 there was a
study in Poland that demonstrated Chaga's inhibiting effects on tumor
growth.[1] Noda et. al found that betulin seems to
work highly selectively on tumor cells because the interior pH of tumor
tissues is generally lower than that of normal tissues, and betulinic
acid is only active at those lower levels.
Fulda et al. found in
1997 that once inside the cells, betulinic acid induces apoptosis
(programmed cell death) in the tumors.[2] In 2005
there was a study done at Department of Medical Nutrition in South
Korea. The Chaga Mushroom was evaluated for their potential for
protecting against oxidative damage to DNA in human lymphocytes. The
study found that the polyphenolic extract protected these cells against
hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress.[3] Another
study that year found the endo-polysaccharide of Chaga produced indirect
anti-cancer effects via immuno-stimulation.
The mycelial endo-polysaccharide
of Inonotus Obliquus was identified as a candidate for use as an immune
response modifier and indicates that the anti-cancer effect of endo-polysaccharide
is not directly tumorcidal but rather is immuno-stimulating.[4][5]
It has also been demonstrated as anti-inflammatory.[6]
Saitoh Akiko published on the antimutagenic effects of Chaga in 1996,
and Mizuno et al. published on the anti tumor and hypoglycemic
activities of the polysaccharides from the sclerotia and mycelia of
Chaga.
References
-
Rzymowska, J.
Effect of aueous extracts from Inonotus
Obliquus on mitotic index and enzyme activities
-
Tillotsen, Alan. Chaga Mushrooms (Inonotus
obliquus)
-
Cui Y; Kim DS; Park KC
Antioxidant effects of Inonotus
obliquus. J Ethnopharmacol. 2005; 96(1-2):79-85 (ISSN:
0378-8741)
-
Kim YO; Han SB; Lee HW; Ahn HJ;
Yoon YD; Jung JK; Kim HM; Shin CS
Immuno-stimulating effect of the endo-polysaccharide produced by
submerged culture of Inonotus obliquus. Life Sci. 2005;
77(19):2438-56 (ISSN: 0024-3205)
-
Kim YO; Park HW; Kim JH; Lee JY;
Moon SH; Shin CS Anti-cancer effect and structural characterization of endo-polysaccharide
from cultivated mycelia of Inonotus obliquus. Life Sci.
2006; 79(1):72-80 (ISSN: 0024-3205)
-
Park YM; Won JH; Kim YH; Choi JW;
Park HJ; Lee KT In vivo and in vitro
anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects of the methanol extract
of Inonotus obliquus.J Ethnopharmacol. 2005; 101(1-3):120-8
(ISSN: 0378-8741)
The following article was published by the NCBI (National
Center for Biotechnology Information) a joint venture by the National
Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
Established in 1988 as a national
resource for molecular biology information, NCBI creates public
databases, conducts research in computational biology, develops software
tools for analyzing genome data, and disseminates biomedical information
- all for the better understanding of molecular processes affecting
human health and disease
Chaga mushroom extract
inhibits oxidative DNA damage in human lymphocytes as assessed by
comet assay.
Park YK, Lee HB,
Jeon EJ, Jung HS, Kang MH.
Department of Medical Nutrition, Kyunghee University, 1 Hoekidong,
Dongdaemoonku, Seoul 130-701, South Korea.
The Chaga mushroom
(Inonotus obliquus) is claimed to have beneficial properties for human
health, such as anti-bacterial, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory and
antioxidant activities. The antioxidant effects of the mushroom may be
partly explained by protection of cell components against free radicals.
We evaluated the
effect of aqueous Chaga mushroom extracts for their potential for
protecting against oxidative damage to DNA in human lymphocytes. Cells
were pretreated with various concentrations (10, 50, 100 and 500 microg/mL)
of the extract for 1 h at 37 degrees C. Cells were then treated with 100
microM of H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) for 5 min as an oxidative stress.
Evaluation of oxidative damage was performed using single-cell gel
electrophoresis for DNA fragmentation (Comet assay). Using image
analysis, the degree of DNA damage was evaluated as the DNA tail moment.
Cells pretreated
with Chaga extract showed over 40% reduction in DNA fragmentation
compared with the positive control (100 micromol H2O2 treatment). Thus,
Chaga mushroom treatment affords cellular protection against endogenous
DNA damage.
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