In order to study the effect of polysaccharides produced by Antrodia cinnamomea in submerged fermentation on the intestinal flora of mice and, more broadly, to develop the potential and application value of A. cinnamomea in the field of functional food, we extracted and characterized intracellular polysaccharides (AIPS) and exopolysaccharides (AEPS) from the submerged cultured mycelia and broth of Antrodia cinnamomea. It was found that AIPS and AEPS were predominantly composed of glucose, galactose and mannose. Their average molecular masses were 3.52 × 10⁶ and 4.16 × 10⁵ Da, respectively. AEPS contained a pyran ring, while AIPS had (–C≡C–H) and (C–O) functional groups. Both AIPS and AEPS had strong digestive resistance as demonstrated by their resistance to α-amylase digestion and simulated gastric digestion. Intragastrically administered AIPS and AEPS significantly increased the relative abundance of some beneficial microorganisms (such as Lactobacillus) in the intestine of mice with lincomycin-caused diarrhea, and significantly reduced the relative abundance of some harmful microorganisms (such as Enterococcus, Staphylococcus, Parasutterella and Shigella) (P < 0.05), AEPS being more significantly better than AIPS. This study can provide a new idea and basis for the development of new multifunctional prebiotics.

This study aimed to investigate the effects of triterpenoids from Antrodia cinnamomea (ACTp) on reserpine-induced depressive-like symptoms in mice. First, to create a mouse model of depression, injection of reserpine at 0.4 mg/kg m_b (body mass) was selected based on typical depressive symptoms and moderately severe depression. Subsequently, the ameliorative effects of different doses of ACTp on depressive symptoms in mice were studied. It was shown that medium-dose (20 mg/kg m_b) ACTp increased the sugar preference value of depressed mice from 46% to 75% (the value for normal mice is 77%), and alleviated anhedonia. Besides, the medium dose of ACTp increased the horizontal activity of depressed mice by 375% and reduced the immobility time in the tail suspension time by 32% compared with the model group. Its effect was somewhat more pronounced than that of the positive drug fluoxetine. In addition, the medium dose of ACTp significantly reduced the levels of inflammatory factors of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and significantly increased the levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin in depressed mice, being comparably effective as fluoxetine. Finally, the effect of ACTp on the gut microbiota of mice was investigated. It was found that the medium dose of ACTp significantly increased the relative abundance of beneficial microorganisms (such as Firmicutes and Ligilactobacillus) in mice. These microorganisms were known to ameliorate depressive symptoms by inhibiting inflammatory cytokines or increasing neurotransmitter levels. The result preliminarily suggests that ACTp may alleviate depressive symptoms in mice through the microbiota-gut-brain axis.

In order to determine compounds present in the aqueous extract of Cinnamomum kanehirae Hay (CWE) that promote the asexual sporulation of Antrodia cinnamomea in submerged fermentation. First, CWE was isolated by alcohol precipitation and fractional extraction with different organic solvents. The influence of the obtained fractions on the asexual sporulation of A. cinnamomea was investigated. It was showed that the chloroform (at 30 μg/mL) and ethyl acetate (at 50 μg/mL) extracts of the supernatant after ethanol precipitation of CWE presented remarkable promoting effects on the sporulation of A. cinnamomea, and the effect of LFE was significantly more pronounced than that of YZE, indicating that both LFE and YZE contained compounds that promote the sporulation of A. cinnamomea. Subsequently, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) was used to analyze the chemical components of the fractions obtained from CWE, and erythritol was considered as the major component that promotes the sporulation of A. cinnamomea. Finally, the effect of erythritol with a purity of 98% on the fermentation performance of A. cinnamomead was investigated. The result showed that erythritol did significantly promote the sporulation of A. cinnamomea and increased the spore production by 55.17% compared with the control group at the optimal concentration of 1.0 μg/mL. Meanwhile, 1.0 μg/mL erythritol significantly promoted the mycelial growth and synthesis of intracellular polysaccharides (IPS) of A. cinnamomea in submerged fermentation and increased the biomass and the yield of IPS by 18.65% and 260.13%, respectively. However, erythritol had no significant effect on the synthesis of triterpenes in A. cinnamomea.