Water-soluble polysaccharide extracts from the oyster culinary-medicinal mushroom pleurotus ostreatus (Agaricomycetes) with HMGCR inhibitory activity

Water extracts from Pleurotus ostreatus containing no statins showed 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutaryl CoA reductase (HMGCR) inhibitory activity (in vitro) that might be due to specific water-soluble polysaccharides (WSPs); when isolated and deproteinized, increasing concentrations of the WSP extract induced higher inhibition. The WSP extract contained mainly β-glucans, mannogalactans, and glycogen (e.g., α-glucans), although derivatives or fragments with lower molecular weights (between 14 and 3.5 kDa) were present and were able to induce the inhibitory activity. The extract contained more β-(1→3)-glucans than β-(1→3),(1→6)-glucans, and they partially survived digestion and managed to pass through Caco2 cell monolayers to the lower compartment after in vitro digestion and transport experiments. The WSP might also modulate Caco2 membrane integrity.