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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Cordyceps sinensis Health Supplement Enhances Recovery from Taxol-Induced Leukopenia

Wei-Chung Liu^*,, Wei-Ling Chuang^*, Min-Lung Tsai^*, Ji-Hong Hong, William H. McBride and Chi-Shiun Chiang^*,1

^* Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan; Department of Radiological Technology, Tzu Chi College of Technology, Hualien 970, Taiwan; Department of Radiation Oncology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and Department of Medical Imaging and Radiological Science, Chang Gung University, Tao-Yuan 30033, Taiwan; and Roy E. Coats Laboratories, Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California Los Angeles, California

To whom requests for reprints should be addressed at ¹ The Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences, National Tsing Hua University, 101 Sec. 2, Kuang-Fu Road, Hsinchu 30013, Taiwan. E-mail: cschiang{at}mx.nthu.edu.tw

This study aimed to evaluate the ability of the health food supplement Cordyceps sinensis (CS) to ameliorate suppressive effects of chemotherapy on bone marrow function as a model for cancer treatment. Mice were treated with Taxol (17 mg/kg body wt) one day before oral administration of a hot-water extract of CS (50 mg/kg daily) that was given daily for 3 weeks. White blood cell counts in peripheral blood of mice receiving Taxol were at 50% of normal levels on day 28 but had recovered completely in mice treated with CS. In vitro assays showed that CS enhanced the colony-forming ability of both granulocyte macrophage colony forming unit (GM-CFU) and osteogenic cells from bone marrow preparations and promoted the differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stromal cells into adipocytes, alkaline phosphatase–positive osteoblasts, and bone tissue. This result could be attributed to enhanced expression of Cbfa1 (core binding factor a) and BMP-2 (bone morphogenetic protein) with concurrent suppression of ODF (osteoclast differentiation factor/RANK [receptor activator of NF-B]) ligand. In summary, CS enhances recovery of mice from leukopenia caused by Taxol treatment. It appears to do so by protecting both hematopoietic progenitor cells directly and the bone marrow stem cell niche through its effects on osteoblast differentiation.

Key Words: Cordyceps sinensis • Taxol • leucopenia • osteoblast