Pubmed Study from 2017: Hericium erinaceus (Lions mane), a traditional edible mushroom, is known as a medicine food homology to help with  gastrointestinal diseases. To investigate whether lions mane is clinically effective in alleviating inflammatory bowel disease , HE extracts (polysaccharide, alcoholic extracts and whole extracts were prepared using solvent extraction methods) were administrated for 2 weeks in rats with IBD induced by trinitro-benzene-sulfonic acid (TNBS) enema (150 mg/kg). Significant clinical and histological changes in IBD rats were identified, including damage activity, common morphous and tissue damage index scores in colonic mucosa and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. The damage activity, common morphous and tissue damage index scores in colonic mucosa were improved, MPO activities were decreased. 

In Diagram A: The mice in the H. erinaceus extracts-treated groups showed significant improvement compared with the TNBS-treated group.

We also found that the structure of gut microbiota of the H. erinaceus extracts-treated groups changed significantly by compared with the model group. Further studies revealed that the polysaccharides in HE extracts may play a prebiotic role, whereas the alcoholic extracts show bactericidin-like and immunomodulatory effects. Taken together, we demonstrated that H. erinaceus extracts could promote the growth of beneficial gut bacteria and improve the host immunity in vivo IBD model, which shows clinical potential in relieving IBD by regulating gut microbiota and immune system.

Mushrooms are generally a good source of nutrients and health-promoting compounds. The findings of the present study showed that lions mane mushroom extracts (polysaccharide, alcoholic extracts, and whole extracts) significantly improved the structure of gut microbiota. Some symptoms of IBD such as common morphous and tissue damage index scores in colonic mucosa improved. These results clearly indicated that the H. erinaceus (lions mane mushroom) extracts could promote the growth of probiotic bacteria, improve immunity, and give positive results in the experimental models of IBD.

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Keywords: anti-inflammatory, gut microbiota, Hericium erinaceus, immune-enhancing effect, inflammatory bowel disease