Medicinal Cordyceps fungus eased diabetes and high cholesterol signs in mice
Shi H, Meng Y, Zhang G, Ling J
Medicinal Plants
Cordyceps militaris is the orange, club-shaped fungus sold as a wellness supplement and grown on grain or silkworm pupae in hobby mushroom kits, and this study shows what its main compound may do in the gut and liver.
Researchers fed diabetic mice with high blood fat either a Cordyceps militaris extract or its key compound, cordycepin, for six weeks. The mice had lower blood fats, healthier liver readings and better blood sugar handling, and their gut microbes and bile acid signals shifted too. A higher cordycepin dose worked less consistently than the lower one, and none of this has been tested in people yet.
Key Findings
Cordyceps militaris ethanol extract (2.0 g/kg) and cordycepin at 50 mg/kg lowered serum lipids and liver transaminases and shifted fasting glucose and glucose tolerance curves downward versus untreated diabetic mice over 6 weeks.
Treatments changed gut bacterial and fungal communities and serum metabolite profiles involving bile acids, fatty acids and amino acids, with colon and liver tissue damage appearing milder.
Treated mice showed higher colonic TGR5, hepatic FXR, Fxr, Nr0b2 and Ppara expression and lower Cyp7a1 expression; 100 mg/kg cordycepin gave less consistent results, so the response was not dose-dependent.
chevron_right Technical Summary
In diabetic, high-fat mice, an extract of the medicinal fungus Cordyceps militaris and its compound cordycepin lowered blood fats, liver enzymes and blood sugar readings over 6 weeks. The effects tracked with shifts in gut microbes and bile acid signaling, though this is mouse data only.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Metabolic effects of Cordyceps militaris ethanol extract and cordycepin in mice with type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidaemia: gut microbial and bile acid-related changes.
Cordyceps militaris is an edible medicinal fungus with potential metabolic benefits, but its effects on type 2 diabetes mellitus accompanied by hyperlipidaemia (T2DM-HLP) remain incompletely unders...
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Cordyceps militaris, commonly known as the caterpillar fungus, is a species of fungus in the family Cordycipitaceae, and the type species of the genus Cordyceps, which consists of hundreds of species. The species was originally described by Carl Linnaeus in 1753 as Clavaria militaris. Cordyceps m...