Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license.
Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat.
We can research this topic together.
Lentinan is a β-1,3 beta-glucan with β-1,6 branching. It has a molecular weight of 500,000 Da and specific rotation of +14-22° (NaOH).
Research
Preclinical studies
An in vitro experiment showed lentinan stimulated production of white blood cells in the human cell line U937. Lentinan is thought to be inactive in humans when given orally and is therefore administered intravenously. The authors of an in vivo study of lentinan suggested that the compound may be active when administered orally in mice.
Human clinical trials
Lentinan has been the subject of a limited number of clinical studies in cancer patients in Japan; however, evidence of efficacy is lacking.
Ng ML, Yap AT (October 2002). "Inhibition of human colon carcinoma development by lentinan from shiitake mushrooms (Lentinus edodes)". Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 8 (5): 581–589. doi:10.1089/107555302320825093. PMID12470439.
Nimura H, Mitsumori N, Takahashi N, Kashimura H, Takayama S, Kashiwagi H, Yanaga K (June 2006). "". Gan to Kagaku Ryoho. Cancer & Chemotherapy (in Japanese). 33 Suppl 1 (1): 106–109. PMID16897983.
Nakano H, Namatame K, Nemoto H, Motohashi H, Nishiyama K, Kumada K (1999). "A multi-institutional prospective study of lentinan in advanced gastric cancer patients with unresectable and recurrent diseases: effect on prolongation of survival and improvement of quality of life. Kanagawa Lentinan Research Group". Hepato-Gastroenterology. 46 (28): 2662–2668. PMID10522061.
Oba K, Kobayashi M, Matsui T, Kodera Y, Sakamoto J (July 2009). "Individual patient based meta-analysis of lentinan for unresectable/recurrent gastric cancer". Anticancer Research. 29 (7): 2739–2745. PMID19596954.
Kataoka H, Shimura T, Mizoshita T, Kubota E, Mori Y, Mizushima T, et al. (2009). "Lentinan with S-1 and paclitaxel for gastric cancer chemotherapy improve patient quality of life". Hepato-Gastroenterology. 56 (90): 547–550. PMID19579640.
Isoda N, Eguchi Y, Nukaya H, Hosho K, Suga Y, Suga T, et al. (2009). "Clinical efficacy of superfine dispersed lentinan (beta-1,3-glucan) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma". Hepato-Gastroenterology. 56 (90): 437–441. PMID19579616.
Shimizu K, Watanabe S, Watanabe S, Matsuda K, Suga T, Nakazawa S, Shiratori K (2009). "Efficacy of oral administered superfine dispersed lentinan for advanced pancreatic cancer". Hepato-Gastroenterology. 56 (89): 240–244. PMID19453066.
