Kazuki Nakamura (1), Yu Yamaguchi (1), Satomi Kagota (1), Kazumasa Shinozuka
(1) and Masaru Kunitomo (1,2)
(1) Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and
(2) Interdisciplinary Research Institute for Biosciences, Mukogawa Women's
University, 11-68, Koshien Kyuban-cho, Nishinomiya 663-8179, Japan
Abstract: We investigated the effect of water extracts of Cordyceps
sinensis (WECS) on Kupffer cell function in rats. Rats were received a single
i.v. injection of a colloidal carbon solution and then the clearance rate
from the blood were measured. The rats had been daily administered with
WECS, p.o. at a dose of 200 mg/kg for 25 days until the day before the injection
of colloidal carbon. The half-life of the colloidal carbon in the blood
of rats administered WECS 200 mg/kg was significantly shorter than that
of the control rats. This suggests that accelerated function of Kupffer
cells is partially involved in the anti-metastatic action of WECS.
Keywords: Water extract of Cordyceps sinensis (WECS), Kupffer cell function,
Colloidal carbon