cordycepic acid

INTRODUCTION: Ophiocordyceps gracilis is an entomopathogenic fungus and a precious traditional Chinese medicine with similar medicinal properties to Ophiocordyceps sinensis. However, information on the metabolite profiles of natural O. gracilis and its cultures is lacking, which limits their utilization. OBJECTIVE: The metabolic variations and antioxidant activities of O. gracilis cultures and natural O. gracilis were analyzed to evaluate the nutritional and medicinal value of O...

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), the most common monogenic hereditary kidney disease, is the fourth leading cause of end-stage kidney disease worldwide. In recent years, significant progress has been made in delaying ADPKD progression with different kinds of chemical drugs, such as tolvaptan, rapamycin, and somatostatin. Meanwhile, numerous plant-derived compounds have been investigated for their beneficial effects on slowing ADPKD progression. Among them, saikosaponin-d, Ganoderma triterpenes, curcumin, ginkgolide B, steviol, resveratrol, Sparganum stoloniferum Buch...

INTRODUCTION: The polysaccharides found in Cordyceps cicadae ( C. cicadae ) have received increasing academic attention owing to their wide variety of therapeutic activities. METHODS: This study evaluated the hypoglycemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects of polysaccharides from C. cicadae (CH-P). In addition, 16s rDNA sequencing and untargeted metabolomics analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) were used to estimate the changes and regulatory relationships between gut microbiota and its metabolites...

Cordyceps extract and withaferin A (Wi-A) are natural compounds that have therapeutic effects on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, their efficacy is limited and a long treatment duration is usually required. To enhance their efficiency, the synergistic effects of nanobubble water (NBW) derived from nitrogen, hydrogen, and oxygen gases were investigated. Results showed that the physical properties of all three NBWs, including nanobubble density (108 particles/mL) and zeta potential (below -22 mV), were stable during 48 h of storage...

Cordyceps chanhua has been widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. The uric acid-lowering effect of artificially cultivated fruiting bodies of C. chanhua (FBCC) was studied using the acute hyperuricemia (AH) and chronic gout (CG) animal models. The AH mice and CG rats were randomly divided into 6 groups: the negative control group, model group, positive control group, low-dose group, medium-dose group, and high-dose group of FBCC, respectively. Serum uric acid, creatinine, urea nitrogen, and liver xanthine oxidase (XOD) activity were detected...

The Clavicipitaceae family's largest and most diverse genus is Cordyceps. They are most abundant and diverse in humid temperate and tropical forests and have a wide distribution in: Europe, North America, and East and Southeast Asian countries, particularly: Bhutan, China, Japan, Nepal, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Tibet, and the Himalayan region of India, and Sikkim. It is a well-known parasitic fungus that feeds on insects and other arthropods belonging to 10 different orders. Over 200 bioactive metabolites, that include: nucleotides and nucleosides, polysaccharides, proteins, polypeptides, amino acids, sterols, and fatty acids, among others have been extracted from Cordyceps spp...

Chinese cordyceps, also known as Dong-Chong-Xia-Cao, is widely recognized as a famous precious tonic herb, and used as traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. It is mainly used for regulating the immune system and improving functions of the lung and kidney, with anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, and anti-diabetic activities. Due to its rarity and preciousness, a few chemical components are isolated and identified. Moreover, most of them are common chemical components and widely distributed in other natural resources, such as nucleosides, sterols, fatty acids, sugar alcohols, and peptides...

A new exopolysaccharide component named as PC-EPS was isolated from Cordyceps cicadae, and its structure was determined. PC-EPS was identified to be constituted of mannose, glucose, and galactose (28.84:1:19.42), with an average molecular weight of 3.72 × 106  Da, according to the results of monosaccharide composition, Fourier transform infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, periodate oxidation and Smith degradation, and methylation studies. According to structural characterization, PC-EPS's connection type was made up of →6) -α-d-Manp (1→, →2) -β-d-Manp (1→, →4) -α-d-Manp (1→, →2) -α-d-Galf (1→, and →4) -α-d-Galp (1→...

Cordyceps cicadae (Miq.) is an edible fungus with unique and valuable medicinal properties that is commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine, but its anti-aging effects on the skin fibroblast are not well studied. The aim of the present study was to analyze the active components of aqueous C. cicadae extract (CCE), determine the effects of CCE on hyaluronan synthesis in human skin fibroblasts, and explore the underlying mechanisms. The results of this study indicate that CCE was rich in polysaccharides, five alditols (mainly mannitol), eight nucleosides, protein, and polyphenols, which were present at concentrations of 62...

Cordyceps is a diverse genus of insect pathogenic fungi, with about 180 accepted species, including some well-known ones used as ethnic medicine and/or functional food. Nevertheless, mitogenomes are only available for four members of the genus. The current study reports the mitogenome of Cordyceps blackwelliae, a newly described entomopathogenic fungus. The 42,257-bp mitogenome of the fungus encoded genes typically found in fungal mitogenomes, and a total of 14 introns inserted into seven genes, including cob (1 intron), cox1 (4), cox3 (3), nad1 (1), nad4 (1), nad5 (1), and rnl (3)...

This study aimed to improve the anticancer effect of Cordyceps militaris herbal extract (CME) on breast cancer cells with hyaluronic acid (HYA) surface-decorated lipid polymer hybrid nanoparticles (LPNPs) and evaluate the applicability of a synthesized poly(glycerol adipate) (PGA) polymer for LPNP preparation. Firstly, cholesterol- and vitamin E-grafted PGA polymers (PGA-CH and PGA-VE, respectively) were fabricated, with and without maleimide-ended polyethylene glycol. Subsequently, CME, which contained an active cordycepin equaling 9...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a result of a retroviral infection of SARS-CoV-2. Due to its virulence and high infection rate, it is a matter of serious concern and a global health emergency. Currently available COVID-19 vaccines approved by regulatory bodies around the world have been shown to provide significant protection against COVID-19. But no vaccine is 100% effective at preventing infection, also they have varying efficacy rates and different side effects. However, the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2 has been identified as a key drug target due to its essential role in viral infection and its minimal similarity with human proteases...

Chinese cordyceps was one of most valuable traditional Chinese medicine fungi. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms related to energy supply mechanism involved in the initiation and formation of primordium in Chinese cordyceps, we performed the integrated metabolomic and transcriptomic analyses of it at pre-primordium period, primordium germination period and after-primordium period, respectively. Transcriptome analysis showed that many genes related to 'starch and sucrose metabolism', 'fructose and mannose metabolism', 'linoleic acid metabolism', 'fatty acids degradation' and 'glycerophospholipid metabolism' were highly up-regulated at primordium germination period...

Multiple sequence alignments of three lipase isoforms from the filamentous fungus, Cordyceps militaris, have revealed that the deduced protein from their common sequence belongs to the Candida rugosa lipase-like group. To express the protein in its active form, recombinant lipase from C. militaris (rCML) was extra cellularly expressed in Pichia pastoris X-33 after removing its signal peptide. Purified rCML was a stable monomeric protein with a molecular mass of 90 kDa, and was highly N-mannosylated compared to the native protein (69 kDa)...

A new galactoglucomannan (C-0-1) was purified from the medicinal parasitic fungus of Cordyceps cicadae using an anion-exchange column and gel permeation column. The results of high-performance liquid chromatography and high-performance gel permeation chromatography indicated that C-0-1 consists of galactose, glucose, and mannose in a ratio of 5:1:4 and has a molecular weight of 23.3 kDa. The combined structural elucidation analysis methods including partial acid hydrolysis, methylation analysis, and NMR experiments revealed that C-0-1 was a comb-like polysaccharide with a core structure including (1→2)-α-D-Man p residues in the backbone and branches at O -6 of the main chain...

Cordyceps militaris is a medicinal mushroom in Asia in the twenty-first century, which cordycepin is a significant bioactive compound. This study investigated the effect of culture conditions and vegetable seed extract powder (VSEP) as a supplementary source of animal-free nitrogen on the production of cordycepin by C. militaris in liquid surface culture. The highest cordycepin production was observed under SBEP conditions, and 80 g/L of SBEP supplementation increased cordycepin production to 2.52 g/L, which was greater than the control (peptone)...

Cordyceps cicadae , a medicinal fungus that is abundant in bioactive compounds such as N6-(2-hydroxyethyl)-adenosine (HEA) and polysaccharides, possesses remarkable anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and nerve damage recovery properties. Deep ocean water (DOW) contains minerals that can be absorbed and transformed into organic forms by fungi fermentation. Recent studies have shown that culturing C. cicadae in DOW can enhance its therapeutic benefits by increasing the levels of bioactive compounds and minerals' bioavailibility...

Age-related loss of function brings age-related disease, and therefore it is of primary importance to search for interventions that can help minimize detrimental symptoms people deal with in old age. Fungi have always been given a great deal of attention and reverence in traditional medical practices for their ability to minimize harmful symptoms of diseases. More recently, the role of fungi in influencing healthspan and lifespan is being directly studied in the lab. To treat animal model organisms with fungi-derived molecules, extractions from different life cycle stages of fungi are performed...

Cordycepin has the potential to be an alternative to the disputed herbicide glyphosate. However, current laborious and time-consuming production strategies at low yields based on Cordyceps militaris lead to extremely high cost and restrict its application in the field of agriculture. In this study, Komagataella phaffii (syn. Pichia pastoris ) was engineered to biosynthesize cordycepin from methanol, which could be converted from CO2 . Combined with fermentation optimization, cordycepin content in broth reached as high as 2...

Cordycepin, an important active substance in Cordyceps militaris , possesses antiviral and other beneficial activities. In addition, it has been reported to effectively promote the comprehensive treatment of COVID-19 and thus has become a research hotspot. The addition of naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) is known to significantly improve the yield of cordycepin; however, its related molecular mechanism remains unclear. We conducted a preliminary study on C. militaris with different concentrations of NAA. We found that treatment with different concentrations of NAA inhibited the growth of C...