Physiochemical changes and mechanisms of anti-inflammation effect of sulfated polysaccharides from ammonium sulfate feeding of Antrodia cinnamomea

Antrodia cinnamomea is an important medicinal fungus in Taiwan. This study demonstrates changes of complex sulfated polysaccharides (SPS) by fungus A. cinnamomea after ammonium sulfate-feeding and evaluates its anti-inflammatory activities. The addition of 1 mM ammonium sulfate showed maximal sulfate content of SPS in value of 1.82 mmol/g. Ammonium sulfate changes the physiochemical properties of SPS in that area percentage of SPSs (361 kDa) was increased for 1 mM ammonium sulfate to the value of 26 percentage area. SPS of 1 mM ammonium sulfate-fed A. cinnamomea (AM-SPS) had maximal inhibition of LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) release in RAW264.7 macrophage. Iκ-B degradation induced by LPS in macrophages was reversed by AM-SPS. Suppression of NF-κB activation might have been responsible for the anti-inflammatory effects. Meanwhile, the inhibition was also due to suppressing the AKT, and ERK signaling pathway. Our finding suggests that ammonium sulfate is a useful nutrient for production of SPS for neutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications.