Vittorio Calabrese MD, PhD

Current Neuropharmacology published results of a 6-month follow-up study that used Coriolus versicolor mushroom biomass to treat patients with Ménière’s disease.¹ A 3-month pilot study² had already indicated the potential for this mushroom to reduce cellular oxidative damage and neuroinflammation and improve disease symptoms, and this new research demonstrates that these beneficial effects persist.

In the latest study, the team of global scientists led by Professor Vittorio Calabrese (University of Catania, Catania, Italy) followed 50 Ménière’s disease patients over 6 months, assessing their symptoms and pro-inflammatory/oxidative status in response to mushroom supplementation. All patients in the study had sensorineural hearing loss: 30 took Coriolus versicolor mushroom biomass (1500 mg) twice daily, and 20 were not treated.  After 3 months and 6 months, treated Meniere’s disease patients showed an enhanced antioxidant stress response, reduction in oxidative damage, reduction in inflammation, improved mood, and fewer and less severe Ménière’s disease symptoms.

Enhanced Antioxidant Stress Response

• At 3 months, mushroom-treated Ménière’s disease patients had a significantly higher level of cellular stress response biomarkers (Nrf2, HO-1, Hsp70, γ-GC, Trx and sirtuin-1) than untreated patients (Figure 1).
• These markers continued to rise between 3 and 6 months, indicating that treated patients continued to respond positively to the oxidative stresses to which they were being exposed as a result of their disease (Figure 1).
• Glutathione is an antioxidant that prevents damage to important cellular components caused by reactive oxygen species. The plasma levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) were significantly higher in mushroom-treated patients at 3 and 6 months (Table 1).

Reduction in Oxidative Damage

• At 3 and 6 months, markers of oxidative damage (lymphocytic protein carbonyls, HNE, and UWCL, and plasma GSH:GSSH ratio) were restored to near-healthy control levels in treated Ménière’s disease patients, but not in untreated patients. The higher plasma GSH/GSSG ratio in the treated patients corresponded to significantly lower GSSG levels and higher GSH levels (Figure 2 and Table 1).

Reduction in Inflammation

• At 3 and 6 months, treated Ménière’s disease patients had a lower pro-inflammatory status than untreated patients, indicated by decreased expression of α-synuclein (a highly soluble unfolded protein that accumulates in Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites in Parkinson disease), GFAP and Iba-1 proteins, increased expression of IKB-α, and modulation of the NF-kB pathway) (Figure 3).
• The decrease in inflammation in mushroom-treated patients was reflected in an increase of anti-inflammatory markers: LXA4 (Figure 4), anti-inflammatory eicosanoids (Figure 5); and a decrease in pro-inflammatory eicosanoids (Figure 6).

Improved Mood

• After 3 and 6 months, treated Ménière’s disease patients showed an improvement in all six mood parameters (anger, confusion, depression, fatigue, tension and vigour) and in total mood disturbance, while there was no improvement in the untreated group (Table 2).

Fewer and Less Severe Meniere’s Disease Symptoms

• By 6 months, frequency of vertigo attack frequency and tinnitus handicap inventory scores were both significantly reduced in treated Ménière’s disease patients compared with untreated patients (Table 3).

Conclusion

These results confirm earlier findings that:

• The neuropathophysiological changes of Ménière’s disease appear to be mediated in part by an increase in a-synuclein and an upregulation of NF-kB-mediated processes.
• Treatment of Ménière’s disease patients with Coriolor versicolor mushroom biomass boosts the response to oxidative stressors, reduces oxidative damage, and moderates inflammation.
• These effects are reflected in symptomatic relief – an improved mood and reduction in tinnitus.

The researchers concluded that their nutritional approach – using Coriolus versicolor biomass supplementation – represents a promising and innovative strategy for reducing both the oxidative stress-induced neurodegenerative damage of cochleovestibular diseases (including Ménière’s disease), and the pathology associated with sensorineural hearing loss.

Contacts

The Coriolus versicolor biomass used in the study was supplied by Mycology Research Laboratories Ltd. (Luton, United Kingdom).

Luton-based Mycology Research Laboratories Ltd. was founded in the United Kingdom in 1997 with a focus on developing mushroom-based nutrition products. Over the past 15 years, Mycology Research Laboratories has had several collaborations with hospitals and universities based in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Italy and Portugal.

• Contact: William Ahern
• Email: info@mycologyresearch.com
• Website: http://www.mycologyresearch.com/

References

1. Di Paola R, Siracusa R, Fusco R, Ontario M, Cammilleri G, Pantano L, Scuto M, Tomasell M, Spanò S, Trovato Salinaro A, Abdelhameed AS, Ferrantelli V, Arcidiacono A, Fritsch T, Lup G, Signorile A, Maiolino L, Cuzzocrea S, Calabrese V. Redox modulation of Meniere Disease by Coriolus Versicolor treatment, a nutritional mushroom approach with neuroprotective potential. Current Neuropharmacology 2024;22:000-000. Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1570159X22666231206153936
2. Bell V & Fernandes TH. Mushrooms as functional foods for Meniere’s Disease (Review). Applied Sciences 2023;13:12348. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3390/app132212348.

Published April 20, 2024

Figures and Tables

Figure 1:Effect of C. versicolor treatment on markers of stress response in Ménière’s disease (MD) patients

Figure 2: Effect of C. versicolor treatment on markers of systemic oxidative damage in Ménière’s disease (MD) patients

About the Author

Vittorio Calabrese MD, PhD, is Professor of Clinical Biochemistry at the School of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Catania in the Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences.

He is the Director of the School of Specialization in Clinical Pathology and Clinical Biochemistry at the University of Catania, the University of Messina, and the University of Palermo. His research focuses on the role of free radicals and antioxidants in human disease, particularly Alzheimer´s disease and other brain disorders. His interest in identifying the most important antioxidants in the human diet and in developing novel antioxidants has critical bearing on treating human diseases and understanding how diet might cause or prevent them.

Professor Calabrese earned his Doctor of Medicine in Neuroscience from the University of Catania in 1984 with his thesis “Modification of Brain lipid Metabolism during ageing” in 1988, he earned a specialization in neurology with his thesis on oxidative stress in the central nervous system.

The co-authors on this latest paper on Coriolus and Meniere´s were Rosanna Di Paola, Rosalba Siracusa, Roberta Fusco, Marialaura Ontario, Gaetano Cammilleri, Licia Pantano, Maria Scuto, Mario Tomasello, Sestina Spanò, Angela Trovato Salinaro, Ali S. Abdelhameed, Vincenzo Ferrantelli, Antonio Arcidiacono, Tilman Fritsch, Gabriella Lupo, Anna Signorile, Luigi Maiolino, and Salvatore Cuzzocrea. 

Email address: Vittorio Calabrese vittorio.calabrese@unict.it