Natural products from New York's beautiful Finger Lakes Region and Adirondack Mountains
Chaga Mushroom - Inonotus Obliquus
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Chaga, Inonotus obliquus, grows on the birch tree,Betula, in the familyBetulaceae. The important metabolite birch produces is betulin, which concentrates inside the chaga. From betulin we get betulinic acid, apentacyclic triterpene.Betulinic acid is being studied as an anticancer agent6.Studies have found betulin effective against gastric carcinoma1, pancreatic carcinoma 2, and squamous cell skin cancer3. It is antiviral and antimalarial4.It appears to have particularly effective cytotoxic results against hormone-dependent breast cancer and works by disrupting mitochondrial signaling pathways 5.Chagacontains betulin in the rusty orange interior while the skin of the fungus turns black in sun exposure due to the melanin it contains. This black crust is rich in antioxidants. Chaga can be taken as a tincture, or a pleasant tea, pictured above.
1 Wang H, Wang H, Ge L, et al. Betulinic acid targets drug-resistant human gastric cancer cells by inducing autophagic cell death, suppresses cell migration and invasion, and modulates the ERK/MEK signaling pathway.Acta Biochim Pol. 2021;69(1):25-30. doi:10.18388/abp.2020_5530
2 Drag M, Surowiak P, Drag-Zalesinska M, Dietel M, Lage H, Oleksyszyn J. Comparision of the cytotoxic effects of birch bark extract, betulin and betulinic acid towards human gastric carcinoma and pancreatic carcinoma drug-sensitive and drug-resistant cell lines.Molecules. 2009;14(4):1639-1651. Published 2009 Apr 24. doi:10.3390/molecules14041639
3Yuan DY, Meng Z, Xu K, et al. Betulinic acid increases radiosensitization of oral squamous cell carcinoma through inducing Sp1 sumoylation and PTEN expression.Oncol Rep. 2017;38(4):2360-2368. doi:10.3892/or.2017.5872
4Wang X, Lu X, Zhu R, et al. Betulinic Acid Induces Apoptosis in Differentiated PC12 Cells Via ROS-Mediated Mitochondrial Pathway.Neurochem Res. 2017;42(4):1130-1140. doi:10.1007/s11064-016-2147-y
5 Bishayee A, Ahmed S, Brankov N, Perloff M. Triterpenoids as potential agents for the chemoprevention and therapy of breast cancer. Front Biosci (Landmark Ed). 2011 Jan 1;16(3):980-96. doi: 10.2741/3730. PMID: 21196213; PMCID: PMC3057757.
6 Géry A, Dubreule C, André V, Rioult JP, Bouchart V, Heutte N, Eldin de Pécoulas P, Krivomaz T, Garon D. Chaga ( Inonotus obliquus), a Future Potential Medicinal Fungus in Oncology? A Chemical Study and a omparison of the Cytotoxicity Against Human Lung Adenocarcinoma Cells (A549) and Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells (BEAS-2B). Integr Cancer Ther. 2018 Sep;17(3):832-843. doi: 10.1177/1534735418757912. Epub 2018 Feb 27. PMID: 29484963; PMCID: PMC6142110.