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Nutrients
The mushroom is sweet and tasteless in flavor, neutral in property, acting on the heart, spleen and kidney channels. Poria cocos contains several monosaccharides including the D - forms of glucose, xylose, mannose, galactose, fucose, and rhamnose. Several studies report beta-d-glucan structured polysaccharides being present as well, discussing behaviorial characteristics and antitumor potential. The glucan pachyman, specifically, has been evaluated. Compounds O-acetylpachymic acid, methyl-O-acetylpachymate and Me pachymate have also been isolated from poria.
Several reports list triterpene derivatives present in poria. These include lanostane triterpenes.Examples include polyporenic acid C, pachymaic acid,pachymic acid, tumulosic acid, a carboxylic acid,and dehydropachymic acid.
Poria also contains 15 amino acids, including primarily aspartic acid, serine, and valine. Enzymes carboxyl proteinase (aspartic proteinase), beta-pachymanase, protease, and ergosterol and choline have also been found in poria.
Medicinal use and research
Several reports can be found on the immunological effects of poria. In vitro testing demonstrates poria extract as being a suppressor of cytokine secretion. In mice at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg, poria appeared to be a promising and potent candidate for modulation of the brain-endocrine-immune axis. Poria monosaccharides, including mannose, galactose, glucose, and others were effective in humoral, cellular, or nonspecific immunities in another report. A review concludes that a decoction including poria has potential importance in cancer immunotherapy and to detoxify anticancer drugs.
Animal data
Several reports confirm these actions and prove how beta-d-glycans (ie, beta-pachymans) and several new or modified polysaccharides possess anticancer activities in vitro or in mouse tumor against sarcoma 180 and Ehrlich ascites carcinoma. Triterpene fractions of poria possess antitumor effects as well. Lanostane-type triterpenes, demonstrated antitumor activity in sarcoma 180 and skin tumor formation in mice.
Anti-inflammatory effects of poria have been reported. Triterpene carboxylic acids and derivatives in poria extract inhibit induced mouse ear edema, paw edema, other edemas, chronic inflammation, and dermatitis in mice. Pachymic and dehydrotumulosic acids were found to inhibit phospholipase A2 in snake venom, showing potential as anti-inflammatory agents.
Poria may possess antiemetic actions as well. Triterpene fractions inhibited induced emesis in frogs.
Clinical data
Certain triterpenoid fractions from poria showed high inhibitory activity on growth of lung, ovary, skin, central nerve, and rectal cancers and possessed antimicrobial actions. A clinical trial evaluated a Chinese herbal remedy containing a 5-component mixture including poria, studied human uterine myomas. In 110 premenopausal patients with this condition, symptoms of hyper- and dysmenorrhea were improved in more than 90% of cases and shrinkage of uterine myomas occurred in approximately 60% of the cases.
A patent for poria lanostane triterpenes as antiemetics has been applied for in Japan and includes doseforms such as tablets, granules, injections, and suppositories. A mixture of 7 herbs including poria studied in more than 400 children was effective in 96.4%, with a cure rate of 90% vs controls for acute and chronic diarrhea and noninfective and infective diarrhea.
Poria extract has been studied to measure melanocyte proliferation as a possible application in vitiligo treatment.
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