Safety assessment of HEA‐enriched Cordyceps cicadae mycelia on the central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular system, and respiratory system in ICR male mice

• Published in: Food science & nutrition 2021-09, Vol.9 (9), p.4905-4915
• Main Authors: Fu, Hsin‐I, Hsu, Jui‐Hsia, Li, Tsung‐Ju, Yeh, Shu‐Hsing, Chen, Chin‐Chu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adenosine; Bioreactors; Blood pressure; Body temperature; Carboxymethyl cellulose; Carboxymethylcellulose; Cardiovascular system; Cell culture; Cellulose; Central nervous system; Cordyceps cicadae; Cordyceps cicadae mycelia; Data analysis; Drugs; Electrocardiography; Enrichment; Entomopathogenic fungi; Evaluation; Fungi; Heart rate; Herbal medicine; Liquid fermentation; Males; Mass production; Mycelia; N6‐(2‐hydroxyethyl) adenosine; Nervous system; Oral administration; Original Research; Pharmacokinetics; Pharmacology; Respiratory system; Safety; safety assessment; Telemetry; Toxicity; Traditional Chinese medicine
• ISSN: 2048-7177; 2048-7177
• DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.2440

Cordyceps cicadae, an entomopathogenic fungus, is a source of traditional Chinese medicine in China. Due to the low yield of wild C. cicadae, artificial cultivation approaches will be needed to meet the increasing market demand. Using bioreactor culture can increase mass production and the abundance of the active component, N6‐(2‐hydroxyethyl)‐adenosine (HEA). Here, we describe a safety assessment for a novel mycelium preparation method. Many studies have confirmed the safety of C. cicadae mycelia. However, the acute safety pharmacology of the C. cicadae enriched with the high HEA (3.90 mg/g) compound has not been evaluated. This study evaluated the central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular system, and respiratory system in ICR male mice via oral gavage administration. For each requested item, two batches of eight mice tested on a vehicle (0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose, CMC) and C. cicadae mycelia (1,000 mg/kg) were performed. The heart rate at 60 min for the vehicle and C. cicadae mycelium treatment was 700.3 ± 55.4 and 603.0 ± 42.3 bpm, respectively (p = .4279). For echocardiographic analysis, the LV mass of the vehicle and drug treatment was 86.7 ± 6.4 and 80.2 ± 7.7, respectively (p = .0933). In the respiratory test, the tidal volume of the vehicle and drug treatments was 0.11 ± 0.01 and 0.14 ± 0.01 at 60 min, respectively (p = .4262). These results demonstrate that the oral administration of HEA‐enriched C. cicadae mycelia is safe for the CNS, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems. Many studies have confirmed the safety of C. cicadae mycelia; however, the acute safety pharmacology of the C. cicadae enriched with the high HEA (3.90 mg/g) compound has not been evaluated. This study evaluated the central nervous system (CNS), cardiovascular system, and respiratory system in ICR male mice via oral gavage administration. The results demonstrate that C. cicadae mycelia have no significant side effect on the cardiovascular, respiratory, and central nervous system via oral administration.