Inhibition (in vitro) of replication and of the cytopathic effect of human immunodeficiency virus by an extract of the culture medium of Lentinus edodes mycelia

• Published in: Medical microbiology and immunology 1988-08, Vol.177 (5), p.235-244
• Main Authors: TOCHIKURA, T. S, NAKASHIMA, H, OHASHI, Y, YAMAMOTO, N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - microbiology; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - pathology; AIDS/HIV; Antiviral Agents - isolation & purification; Antiviral Agents - physiology; Avian Myeloblastosis Virus - drug effects; Basidiomycota - physiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cell Line; Culture Media; Cytopathogenic Effect, Viral - drug effects; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fungal Proteins - isolation & purification; HIV - drug effects; HTLV-I Infections - microbiology; HTLV-I Infections - pathology; Humans; Microbiology; Polyporaceae - growth & development; Polyporaceae - physiology; Polysaccharides - isolation & purification; Polysaccharides - physiology; Replicative cycle, interference, host-virus relations, pathogenicity, miscellaneous strains; Virology
• ISSN: 0300-8584; 1432-1831
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00189409

An extract of culture medium of Lentinus edodes mycelia (LEM) was prepared. This was further fractionated by 50% ethanol precipitation and both the resulting product, E-P-LEM, and LEM were studied to evaluate their effect on the activity of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in vitro. The experiments were performed using either a cell-free infection system with MT-4 cells, or a cell-to-cell infection system with MOLT-4 cells, which induces multinucleated giant cells very efficiently. E-P-LEM almost completely blocked both the cytopathic effect of giant cell formation and specific antigen expression due to HIV, whereas LEM before ethanol precipitation blocked the expression of HIV antigen in MT-4 cells only at a high concentration. Pretreatment of the virus with E-P-LEM before infection blocked HIV infection in the target cells. Thus, the inhibitory effect of LEM and E-P-LEM on HIV could be due to a blocking of the initial stages of HIV infection. Moreover, reverse transcriptase activity of avian myeloblastosis virus was inhibited.