Nutrigenomic Study on Immunomodulatory Function of <i>Cordyceps</i> Mycelium Extract (<i>Paecilomyces hepiali</i>) in Mitomycin C–Treated Mice

Abstract

Cordyceps (CS) is a Chinese herb that produces various effects including immune modulation, and now CS culture product is interested in the use as a functional food. We prepared CS mycelium culture extract ( Paecilomyces hepiali , CBG-CS-2), CS extract, for functional foods. This study aimed to deduce the molecular mechanism of immunomodulatory effect of CS extract in Peyer’s patches (PPs), a main gut immune site, in mice that treated with mitomycin C (MMC), an immunosuppressing antibiotics. Nutrigenomics give us invaluable molecular information about both of foods and nutrition to improve or maintain good health. Here we performed nutrigenomics using DNA microarray to investigate the effect of CS extract on gene expression altered in PPs of the immunosuppressed mice. Interestingly, CS extract protected from the MMC-mediated downregulation of 22 genes, which are associated with IgA production and other immune response in PPs. These suggested that CS extract alleviated the downregulated expression of immune related genes in the gut immune site in an immunosuppressed state. Thus CS extract appears to be practical functional food for immunodepression and/or its related hypofunction.