Effects of dietary supplementation with in vitro-cultivated arboreal medicinal mushrooms on stress coping strategies, depressive and anxiety-like behaviour of rats.

Preclinical studies show that an edible arboreal medicinal mushroom – Hericium erinaceus (HE), is neuroprotective against high corticosterone levels and modulates stress-coping strategies of rodents. Moreover, other arboreal mushrooms ( Fomitopsis officinalis , FO; and Pleurotus djamor , PDJ) had a similar effect. Here, we explored potential dose-dependency of the effects of dietary supplementation with HE, FO or PDJ on anxiety-like behaviours and stress-coping strategies in rats; and, compared them to a drug commonly prescribed for stress-related psychiatric disorders (fluoxetine, FLX; 20 mg/kg) to evaluate those effects quantitatively and qualitatively. For 3 weeks, male Wistar rats were given 0, 100, 250 or 500 mg/kg ( per os ) of HE, FO or PDJ lyophilizate obtained from in vitro cultures. Subsequently, animals were tested in the battery of behavioral tests: open field (OF), elevated plus maze (EPM) and forced swimming (FST) tests. Middle dose of FO increased rearing in OFT indicates reduced anxiety-like behavior in rodents, and swimming (while decreasing climbing) in FST indicate antidepressant-like and also anti-anxiety-like effects no worse or even superior to those of fluoxetine. At the same time, we concluded that the effects of medicinal mushroom supplementation on stress-related behaviours vary depending on the mushroom species and dosage regimen.