Poria cocos

Wolfiporia extensa

ACTIVE

STEROLS, TRITERPENES, LANOSTEROL.

Poria cocos (Polyporaceae), whose Chinese name is Fu-Ling, is an oriental mushroom that grows on pine plants. It has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine for its diuretic, sedative and tonic effect for centuries as documented in the ShenNongBenCaoJing, the first Chinese medical pharmacopoeia written during the Han Dynasty. One of its applications is on blood sugar. Triterpene acids and polysaccharides are mainly responsible for its antioxidant, immunomodulatory, hypoglycemic and anti-inflammatory activities.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine in its clinical horizon, it is employed for memory decline due to spleen deficiency and phlegm blockage. Further studies have confirmed this by showing a mild inhibition of acetylcholinesterase and also calling into question the mechanisms that regulate calcium within the cell.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nakata T, Yamada T, Taji S, Ohishi H, Wada S, Tokuda H, Sakuma K, Tanaka R. Structure determination of inonotsuoxides A and B in vivo anti-tumor promoting ac- tivity of inotodiol from the sclerotia of Inonotus obliquus. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry 2007;15(1) 257-264.

Lee, H. C.; Cheng, W. Y.; Huang, B.; Hsu, Y. H.; Huang, S. Y. Anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic efficacy of Poria cocos and Dioscorea opposita in prediabetes mellitus rats. Rsc. Adv. 2014, 4, 55649-55657

Sato, T. Tai, Y. Nunoura, Y. Yajima, S. Kawashima, and K. Tanaka, "Dehydrotrametenolic acid induces preadipocyte differentiation and sensitizes animal models of noninsulindependent diabetes mellitus to insulin," Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 81-86, 2002.

2004. Chen and H. Chang, "Antiproliferative and differentiating effects of polysaccharide fraction from Fu-Ling (Poria cocos) on human leukemic U937 and HL-60 cells," Food and Chemical Toxicology, vol. 42, pp. 759-769, 2004.

H. Oh, P. J. Houghton, W. K. Whang, and J. H. Cho, "Screening of Korean herbal medicines used to improve cognitive function for anti-cholinesterase activity," Phytomedicine, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 544-548, 2004.

Yan, B. Liu,W. Guo et al, "A clinical investigation on zhi ling tang for treatment of senile dementia," Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, vol. 20, no. 2, pp. 83-86, 2000.

Chen, W. An, and J. Chu, "Effect of water extract of Poria on cytosolic free calcium concentration in brain nerve cells of neonatal rats," Zhongguo Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 293-295, 1998.

Kaminaga T, Yasukawa K, Takido M, Tai T, Nunoura Y. Inhibitory effect of Poria co- cos on 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced ear oedema and tumor pro- motion in mouse skin. Phytotherapy Research 1996;10(7) 581-584.

1995. Smriga, H. Saito, and N. Nishiyama, "Hoelen (Poria cocos WOLF) and ginseng (Panax Ginseng C.A. MEYER), the ingredients of a Chinese prescription DX-9386, individually promote hippocampal long-termpotentiation in vivo," Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, vol. 18, no. 4, pp. 518-522, 1995.