發布日期:2019-04-21

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Antrodia cinnamomea- an alternative treatment for mildly hypertensive adults
Hypertension is a major public health problem globally in both the developed and
developing countries. According to the World Health Organization(WHO), about 17
million deaths occur worldwide due to cardiovascular diseases, of which hypertension
alone accounts for 9.4 million deaths and 80% of the cardiovascular deaths occurred
in the developing countries. In Bangladesh, approximately 20% of adult and 40–65%
of elderly people suffer from hypertension according to Non Communicable Diseases
risk factors survey. Many studies amnestied angiotensin converting enzyme in our
body which increases the plasma renin activity in our blood and increases the blood
pressure. Researchers identified many risk factors underlying hypertension including
non- modifiable factors such as age, gender, genetic factors, and race, as well as
modifiable factors including overweight, high sodium intake, and reduced physical
activity. They suggested that practicing a healthy lifestyle and diet would be
recommended as the first-line treatment in preventing hypertension. Medical science
already developed a lot of drugs for the treatment of hypertension but considering the
various adverse effects of anti-hypertensive drugs, researcher are now looking for safe,
efficacious, and novel therapeutic agents of natural source. Several researchers have
found out mushroom, as alternative and complementary medicinal foods, stand out as
being excellent for treating hypertension. They claimed that they identified
angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitory peptides present in few mushrooms which
lower the blood pressure with no adverse effect.
In Taiwan, a unique medicinal mushroom called Antrodia cinnamomea is very
highlighted topic and research of interest for many researchers from few years. It is
often called the fungus of fortune and known as “ niu zhang zhi” or “zhang-yi” in
Taiwan. Antrodia cinnamomea is very rare in the wild and it grows on the inner
Figure: Antrodia cinnamomea
heartwood wall of the endemic evergreen Cinnamomum kanehirae tree. Primary
investigations have revealed that Antrodia cinnamomea is rich in numerous nutrientstrepenoids,
alkaloids, polysaccharides, proteins, and vitamins, and has been used to
treat various disorders, including hypertension. Surprisingly, some researchers found
angiotension converting enzyme inhibitory property in Antrodia cinnamomea
mycelium which significantly reduced the plasma ranin activity by down streaming
inhibition of angiotensin II peptide hormone formation, which further decreases the
sympathetic outflow that leads to hypertension.
At first in 2014, a group of scientists from Taiwan applied solid-state culture of
Antrodia cinnamomea to two rats- spontaneously hypertensive rats and normal blood
pressure of Wister kyoto rat. They noticed that antrodia cinnamomea was able to
effectively lower the blood pressure of spontaneously hypertensive rats and had no
effect on normal blood pressure of Wister kyoto rat.
Grape King Bio Company and their professional R&D team
After two years in 2016, a renowned company in Taiwan called Grape King Bio, one
of the top health food manufacturers in the biotechnology industry, published a
research paper about clinical study of Antrodia cinnamomea and they asserted that
Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium is a safe alternative treatment for high blood
pressure in mildly hypertensive patients. This company produced Antrodia
cinnamomea capsule and energy drink based on their research findings. They selected
41 untreated hypertensive patients for their research between 20 and 80 years old with
systolic blood pressure between 130 and 79 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure
between 85 and 109 mmHg measured in a sitting position. Selected patients were
treated for 8 weeks with three capsules per day containing either 420 mm of Antrodia
cinnamomea mycelium (21 patients) or 420 mg of starch(control group) (20 patients)
of similar appearance and taste for comparison the results. The participants were
required to visit a local medical university hospital at baseline, every two weeks
during the intervention period (8 weeks), and follow-up 2 weeks after treatment had
ended.
Antrodia cinnamomea capsule and energy drink produced by Grape King Bio Company
After end of the study, they found that Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium treatment
lowered the systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure respectively from
baseline which was associated with a 16-40% reduction in the risk of cardiovascular
events. Compared with the control group(starch), Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium
significantly reduced plasma renin activity in the blood from 2.57 + 0.88 ng/ml h to
1.84 + 0.66 ng/ml h by a maximum of 36% on week 8, which suggested that it is a
potent inhibitor of renin, and that its bio-availability is sufficient to lower blood
pressure after short-time oral treatment. In their study, they found that after 8 weeks
of Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium treatment, antrosterol containing Antrodia
cinnamomea mycelium didn’t increase aspartate aminotransferase enzyme
(Baseline-24.38+6.52 IU/I, end of the study-21.05+5.10 IU/I) or alanine
aminotransferase enzyme (Baseline-29.48 + 19.26 IU/I, end of the study- 28.9 + 21
IU/I) levels which means Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium is not hepatotoxic, and that,
in human adults, it is feasible, safe and well-tolerated. Grape King Bio suggested that
Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium from liquid fermentation at the highest dose of 3000
mg/kg body weight/day are safe. During this study, body weight, body fat, body mass
index, and total cholesterol of the selected patients were interestingly decreased by
Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium treatment. Researchers of the Grape King Bio’s
assumed this reduction might have been the result of the participants awareness of
higher energy foods by keeping a detailed dietary dairy. Oxidative stress should be
considered as one of vital reason’s for secondary hypertension. Thiobarbituric acid
reactive substance is a bio-product of lipid peroxidation which is often considered as
index of oxidative stress. In addition to Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium blood
pressure-lowering properties, Grape King Bio’s researchers noticed that Antrodia
cinnamomea mycelium treatment also significantly reduced thiobarbituric acid
reactive substance level of the hypertensive patients. They also mentioned that
Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium treatment considerably lowered the overall mean
fasting blood glucose, which supports it’s use for treating humans with diabetes.
Furthermore, none of their patients experienced any adverse events during their study,
which suggested that Antrodia cinnamomea mycelium is a safe alternative for high
blood pressure in mildly hypertensives patients.

Reported by Tanvir Ahmed
International Master’s Degree Program In Food Science
National Pingtung University of Science and Technology
Pingtung, Taiwan.