Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities of fruiting bodies of Phellinus xeranticus

Phellinus xeranticus is an medicinal mushroom belongs to Family Hymenochaetaceae of Polyporales, Basidiomycota. The purpose of this study was to investigate the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-acetylcholinesterase activities of methanol and hot water extracts prepared from fruiting bodies of Phellinus xeranticus. Besides measuring of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging activity, a reducing power and a chelating activity on ferrous ions were also measured to evaluate the antioxidant activity of the extracts. To measure the anti-inflammatory activ- ities of the extracts, nitric oxide(NO) production from lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophage cells and carrageenan-induced acute hind paw edema of rats were investigated. The results showed that the extracts have excel- lent DPPH scavenging and chelating activity on the ferrous ions compared with positive controls. The nitric oxide (NO) production in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 macrophage cells were decreased as the concentration of the mushroom extracts increased. Significant reduction of paw edema of rats were observed at 2~6 h after treatment of methanol and hot-water extracts with 50 mg/kg concentration to the rats which are induced acute hind paw edema by carrageenan administration. The anti-acetylcholinesterase activity of the methanol extract of the mushroom showed 83.34% inhibition on AcHE which is lower than that of positive control galanthamine. The experimental results suggested that methanol and hot-water extracts of Phellinus xeranticus fruiting bodies might be used for good sources of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-ace- tylcholinesterase agents.