Leo J.L.D. Van Griensven

Leo J.L.D. Van Griensven
Wageningen University & Research | WUR · Plant Research International

PhD

About

242
Publications
91,099
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9,588
Citations
Additional affiliations
July 2001 - present
Wageningen University & Research
Description
  • Research in the field of medicinal mushrooms. Cell biology: purification, characterization, cell studies, immunology, FACS.
January 1995 - December 1999
Independent Researcher
Independent Researcher
Position
  • Agricultural University Wageningen
January 1987 - December 2001
Radboud University
Description
  • Professor of Applied Mycology: teaching various aspects of mycology and guiding Ph.D. students.
Education
September 1959 - August 1969
Wageningen University & Research
Field of study
  • Plant Pathology

Publications

Publications (242)
Article
Mushrooms are experiencing a kind of renaissance as a part of the contemporary human diet. These valuable organisms are more than food, they fit in perfectly as a novel market group known as nutra-mycoceuticals. Immune-balancing mushroom dietary fibers and secondary metabolites such as polyphenols are the main focus of the healthcare industry. Well...
Article
Full-text available
Our previous study suggested that the interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-10 could serve as good biomarkers for chronic inflammatory disease. We previously established an IL-6 and IL-10 reporters assay that could examine reporter activity along with the reference gene in LPS-induced RAW 264.7 cells. In this study, we described new and stable RAW 264.7 derive...
Article
Full-text available
As a continuation of our search for biologically active mushroom species the present study investigates in vitro antidiabetic properties of six edible and medicinal mushroom species: Agaricus blazei Murrill, Coprinus comatus (O.F. Müll.) Pers., Cordyceps militaris (L.) Fr., Inonotus obliquus (Ach. ex Pers.) Pilát, Morchella conica Pers. and Phellin...
Article
Differences in anomericity and in the branching degree of glucans lead to characteristic intermolecular association that influences their solubility in water or other solvents. A simple purification approach, based on the glucan solubility in aq. 0.1 M NaOH solution, was applied for the separation of mixed water-insoluble α-D-glucans from β-D-gluca...
Article
Full-text available
This study was done to discover any beneficial effect of a medicinal mushroom Agaricus brasiliensis extract on the honey bee. Firstly, a laboratory experiment was conducted on 640 bees reared in 32 single-use plastic rearing cups. A. brasiliensis extract proved safe in all doses tested (50, 100 and 150 mg/kg/day) irrespective of feeding mode (sugar...
Article
A water-soluble β-D-glucan was obtained from fruiting bodies of Piptoporus betulinus, by hot aqueous extraction followed by freeze-thawing procedure and dialysis. Its molar mass distribution and conformational behavior in solution was assessed by size-exclusion chromatography, showing a polysaccharide with an average molecular weight of 2.5 × 105 D...
Article
Full-text available
For hundreds of years mushrooms have been used as functional food for health. The basidiomycete Agaricus brasiliensis (A. brasiliensis) is famous for the medicinal properties of its beta glucans and of its antioxidants. Most researchers have studied polysaccharides from A. brasiliensis for their anti-inflammatory activity. However, active compounds...
Article
Full-text available
Higher Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes mushrooms possess various immunological and anticancer properties. They also offer important health benefits and exhibit a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities including antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, cytotoxic, immunomodulating, anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antiallergic, antidepressive, ant...
Article
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In this article we report the healing effects of a Phellinus linteus fruiting body hot water extract (PLE) in streptozotocin (STZ)–induced diabetic rats. PLE was given before and after STZ. The preprotective, protective, and postprotective effects of PLE on STZ-induced oxidative stress were studied using biochemical (caspase 3 activity, cytosolic-t...
Article
Kaolinite and the modified natural zeolite minazel plus (M+) were used as supplements in substrate used for the production of the medicinal mushroom Grifola frondosa. Growth stimulation, expressed as yield and biological efficiency, was observed when M+ (1%) was added. The production cycle was shortened by half as a result of the zeolites' ion-exch...
Article
Oxidative stress caused by an imbalanced metabolism and an excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS) lead to a range of health disorders in humans. Our endogenous antioxidant defense mechanisms and our dietary intake of antioxidants potentially regulate our oxidative homeostasis. Numerous synthetic antioxidants can effectively improve defense mechani...
Article
Full-text available
Oxidative stress caused by an imbalanced metabolism and an excess of reactive oxygen species (ROS) lead to a range of health disorders in humans. Our endogenous antioxidant defense mechanisms and our dietary intake of antioxidants potentially regulate our oxidative homeostasis. Numerous synthetic antioxidants can effectively improve defense mechani...
Article
Full-text available
Cordyceps militaris (L.) Link, an edible entomopathogenic fungus widely used in traditional Chinese medicine, has numerous potential medicinal properties including antitumor activity. The methanolic extract of C. militaris fruiting body was recently shown to have tumor cell growth inhibitory activity in several human tumor cell lines. Nonetheless,...
Article
Full-text available
Phellinus linteus and igniarius (L.) Quel. have been used in traditional Asian medicine for over two centuries against a variety of diseases. Polysaccharides from their fruiting bodies show strong immunomodulatory activity. In this study we characterized the structure and composition of polysaccharides from Phellinus linteus and Phellinus igniarius...
Article
The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the possible protective activity of Agaricus brasiliensis (=A. blazei sensu Murrill) ethanol extract against thymol-induced DNA damage in human lymphocytes. Before we studied the possible interaction of thymol and A. brasiliensis extract, each component was tested in the comet assay. Thymol significantl...
Article
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The methanolic extract of the wild edible mushroom Cantharellus cibarius Fr. (chanterelle) was analyzed for in vitro antioxidative, cytotoxic, antihypertensive and antibacterial activities. Various primary and secondary metabolites were found. Phenols were the major antioxidant components found in the extract (49.8 mg/g), followed by flavonoids, wh...
Article
The birch polypore Piptoporus betulinus was among two mushrooms that were found in the Iceman’s bag. Recent studies indicated that P. betulinus was probably used as a religious and medicinal item. In order to examine the medicinal potential of P. betulinus, hot water (HW), partially purified (PP), and alkali extract (HA) were prepared and tested fo...
Article
Full-text available
The basidiomycetous mushroom Phellinus igniarius (L.) Quel. has been used as traditional medicine in various Asian countries for many years. Although many reports exist on its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory activities and therapeutic effects against various diseases, our current knowledge of its effect on stroke is very limited. Stroke is a ne...
Article
Mushrooms are widely appreciated for their organoleptic qualities, being also recognized as good sources of bioactive compounds that provide antioxidant, antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. Polysaccharides (including glucans) are often pointed out as the most bioactive compounds isolated from mushrooms, but other molecules such as triterpenoids...
Article
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Abstract The Ascomycete Cordyceps militaris, an entomopathogenic fungus, is one of the most important traditional Chinese medicines. Studies related to its pharmacological properties suggest that this mushroom can exert interesting biological activities. Aqueous (CW and HW) and alkaline (K5) extracts containing polysaccharides were prepared from t...
Article
Agaricus bisporus (J. E. Lange) Emil J. Imbach and Agaricus brasiliensis Wasser, M. Didukh, Amazonas & Stamets are edible mushrooms. We chemically characterized these mushrooms for nutritional value, hydrophilic and lipophilic compounds. The antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanolic and ethanolic extracts were assessed. Hepatotoxicity...
Article
Full-text available
The editors would like to express their greatest appreciation to the authors for their fascinating and interesting contributions. The editors would like also to express their gratitude to the reviewers for their important time and valuable suggestions/comments to make the special issue a success. The papers published in this special issue not only...
Article
Full-text available
The fungal polysaccharides attract a lot of attention due to their multiple challenging biological properties, such as: anti-tumor, anti-viral, anticomplementary, anticoagulant, hypolipidemic, immunomodulatory and immune-stimulatory activities, which all together make them suitable for application in many quite distinctive areas, such as food indus...
Article
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The edible mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill is known to induce protective immunomodulatory action against a variety of infectious diseases. In the present study we report potential anti-quorum sensing properties of A. blazei hot water extract. Quorum sensing (QS) plays an important role in virulence, biofilm formation and survival of many pathogenic...
Article
Context: Excess use of alcohol is known to be associated with liver diseases such as fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis, and cirrhosis. Various practices may be applied to prevent or treat the damage caused by chronic alcoholism. Coprinus comatus (O.F. Müll.) Pers. (Agaricaceae) is a macrofungus that has been reported to aid the recovery of murine l...
Article
Full-text available
Abstract In the present study, the curative effects of crude polysaccharides (PSs) from mushrooms on the symptoms of alcoholic liver injury were investigated. PSs from Agaricus bisporus, Agaricus brasiliensis, and Phellinus linteus fruiting bodies were administered by gavage at levels of 100 mg per kg body weight per day for 7 d after the onset of...
Article
Full-text available
The edible mushroom Agaricus blazei Murill is known to induce protective immunomodulatory action against a variety of infectious diseases. In the present study we report potential anti-quorum sensing properties of A. blazei hot water extract. Quorum sensing (QS) plays an important role in virulence, biofilm formation and survival of many pathogenic...
Article
Full-text available
Expression of genes involved in cell immune responses and apoptosis regulation (BCL2, CASP-9, NF-κB, TNFα, IFNγ, and IL-10) was evaluated by qPCR assays in the human leukemia cell line K562. The cells were stimulated with ethanol and hot water extracts of Agaricus bisporus, A. blazei, Phellinus linteus. Ganoderma lucidum. Upregulation of the genes...
Article
Full-text available
The differentiation resp. death of human monocytic THP-1 cells induced by polysaccharide extracts of the medicinal mushrooms Phellinus linteus, Agaricus bisporus and Agaricus brasiliensis have been studied. This study aims to identify leads for the causal effects of these mushroom components on cell differentiation and death. THP-1 cells were treat...
Article
We studied the appearance of fruit body primordia, the growth of individual fruit bodies and the development of the consecutive flushes of the crop. Relative growth, measured as cap expansion, was not constant. It started extremely rapidly, and slowed down to an exponential rate with diameter doubling of 1.7 d until fruit bodies showed maturation b...
Article
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Abstract A detailed comparative study on chemical and bioactive properties of wild and cultivated Ganoderma lucidum from Serbia (GS) and China (GCN) was performed. This species was chosen because of its worldwide use as medicinal mushroom. Higher amounts of sugars were found in GS, while higher amounts of organic acids were recorded in GCN. Unsatur...
Article
Mushrooms have been reported as sources of biomolecules with various potential. Coprinus comatus was studied to obtain information about this species, comparing cultivated and wild samples. Free sugars, fatty acids, tocopherols, organic acids and phenolic acids were analysed by chromatographic techniques coupled to different detectors. C. comatus m...
Article
The (1→6)-β-d-glucans from Agaricus bisporus and Agaricus brasiliensis were purified to evaluate their effects on the innate immune system. THP-1 macrophages were used to investigate the induction of the expression of TNF-α, IL1β, and COX-2 by RT-PCR. The purification of the polysaccharides gave rise to fractions containing 96-98% of glucose. The s...
Article
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Hot water extract (LN), partially purified polysaccharides (LP) and hot alkali extracted polysaccharides (LNa) obtained from fruiting bodies of the wild basidiomycete Laetiporus sulphureus were examined for their antioxidant activities. LNa was the most active antioxidant, as shown by the median effective concentrations (EC(50) values) of 1,1-diphe...
Data
Hot water extract (LN), partially purified polysaccharides (LP) and hot alkali extracted polysaccharides (LNa) obtained from fruiting bodies of the wild basidiomycete Laetiporus sulphureus were examined for their antioxidant activities. LNa was the most active antioxidant, as shown by the median effective concentrations (EC 50 values) of 1,1-diphen...
Article
Full-text available
Background The hepatoprotective potential of Phellinus linteus polysaccharide (PLP) extracts has been described. However, the molecular mechanism of PLP for the inhibition of liver fibrosis is unclear. This study aims to investigate the molecular protein signatures involved in the hepatoprotective mechanisms of PLP via a proteomics approach using a...
Data
Full-text available
Antioxidant activities of polysaccharide extracts of four of the most widely known mushrooms often used in medicinal applications as well as in tea and food, namely Ganoderma applanatum, Ganoderma lucidum, Lentinus edodes and Trametes versicolor, were studied. G. applanatum and L. edodes extracts were the strongest DPPH scavengers, i.e. EC50 < 0.1...
Article
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Two human leukemia cells K562 and THP-1, the breast cancer lines MCF-7 and ZR-75-1, and the melanoma line MDA-MB-435S were compared by flowcytometry for their behaviour at increasing levels of 3BP. K562 and THP-1 responded to 3BP by membrane depolarization and increased ROS; MCF-7 and ZR-75-1 showed decreased polarization and low ROS increase; MDA-...
Article
Full-text available
Partially purified polysaccharides were obtained from four medicinal mushroom species, Agaricus bisporus, Agaricus brasiliensis, Phellinus linteus and Ganoderma lucidum by hot water extraction, followed by ethanol precipitation. The four samples contained varying amounts of both α- and β-glucans as determined by FT-IR and by quantitative estimation...
Article
Full-text available
Mushroom polysaccharides have traditionally been used for the prevention and treatment of a multitude of disorders like infectious illnesses, cancers and various autoimmune diseases. Crude mushroom extracts have been tested without detailed chemical analyses of its polysaccharide content. For the present study we decided to chemically determine the...
Article
Agaricus bisporus mushrooms are cultivated on straw compost prepared in the sequence phase I and phase II. Phase I is a process at 70–80 °C for several days up to 2 weeks. Phase II is a controlled process at 45 °C for 6 days. In phase II the thermophilic fungus Scytalidium thermophilum becomes abundant. Its density in finished compost is correlated...
Data
a b s t r a c t Partially purified polysaccharides were obtained from four medicinal mushroom species, Agaricus bispo-rus, Agaricus brasiliensis, Phellinus linteus and Ganoderma lucidum by hot water extraction, followed by ethanol precipitation. The four samples contained varying amounts of both a-and b-glucans as deter-mined by FT-IR and by quanti...
Article
Full-text available
The effect of culinary-medicinal Royal Sun Agaricus (Agaricus brasiliensis) hot water extract on methyl methane sulfonate (MMS) induced mutagenicity/genotoxity in Drosophila melanogaster was studied using a quick and broadly applicable in vivo assay, i.e., the wing somatic mutation and recombination test. We used 2nd instar larvae, trans-heterozygo...
Article
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The chemical composition and antibacterial activity of essential oils from 10 commonly consumed herbs: Citrus aurantium, C. limon, Lavandula angustifolia, Matricaria chamomilla, Mentha piperita, M. spicata, Ocimum basilicum, Origanum vulgare, Thymus vulgaris and Salvia officinalis have been determined. The antibacterial activity of these oils and t...
Article
Full-text available
An alpha-glucan was isolated from the culinary medicinal mushroom A. bisporus by hot water extraction, ethanol precipitation and DEAE-cellulose chromatography. The resulting material showed a single HMW peak excluded from a Sephadex G50 column that could completely be degraded by alpha-amylase treatment. After heating in 1% SDS a small additional p...
Article
Full-text available
Mushrooms are known for their immune modulating effect for which the polysaccharide fraction, mainly glucans, seem to be responsible. Fungal beta-glucans have been studied extensively, whereas little is known about mushroom alpha-glucans. We have earlier shown that the polysaccharide fraction from the mushroom A. bisporus, consisting 90% of alpha-g...
Article
Full-text available
In the present study we describe the effects of hot water extract of the culinary-medicinal button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus, on the symptoms of streptozotocin-induced diabetes in Sprague Dawley rats. A.bisporus extract at the doses of 0, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day were orally applied to streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats...
Article
The present study investigates the exopolysaccharide (EPS) and biomass production of 18 strains of 15 species of culinary-medicinal higher Basidiomycetes in submerged culture under four different media. Gloeophyllum abietinum and Schizophyllum commune produced the highest EPS and biomass amounts—3.81 and 14.68 g L−1, respectively—after 5 days of in...
Article
Full-text available
We have studied the effects of Agaricus bisporus and Phellinus linteus ethanol extracts on transcriptional regulation of genes involved in cytokine release and apoptosis in the human leukemia cell line K562. In particular, we applied quantitative real-time PCR (Q-PCR) assays to monitor alterations of gene expression for the following genes: Bcl-2,...
Article
Mushrooms are known for their immune-modulating and anti-tumour properties. The polysaccharide fraction, mainly beta-glucans, is responsible for the immune-modulating effects. Fungal beta-glucans have been shown to activate leukocytes, which depend on structural characteristics of beta-glucans. As edible mushrooms come in contact with the intestina...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
In teh Western world the mushroom industry suffers of overproduction. Expectations are stronger than reality and as a result production is too high and prices are too low. Since bulk production has taken the lead, which not only happens in the West, overproduction occurs regularly Low pricing influences the quality concept of consumers and hence th...
Article
Full-text available
The potential antifungal effects of Thymus vulgaris L., Thymus tosevii L., Mentha spicata L., and Mentha piperita L. (Labiatae) essential oils and their components against 17 micromycetal food poisoning, plant, animal and human pathogens are presented. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodestillation of dried plant material. Their composition...
Article
The major disease of the cultivated mushroom Agaricus bisporus Lange (Imb) in Serbian mushroom farms is wet bubble caused by the fungus Mycogone perniciosa (Magnus) Delacr. In this study we report the morpho-physiological characteristics and inter-relationships between colonies of five isolates of M. perniciosa. The results suggest that mycelial co...
Article
In the Western world, the mushroom industry suffers from overproduction. Expectations are stronger than reality, and as a result, production is too high and prices are too low. Because bulk production has taken the lead, which not only happens in the West, overproduction occurs regularly. Low pricing influences the quality concept of consumers and...
Article
The nematode Steinernema feltiae (Nematoda: Steinemematidae) was tested for its ability to control two main mushroom pests i.e. the sciarid Lycoriella auripila (Diptera: Sciaridae) and the phorid Megaselia halterata (Diptera: Phoridae) in growing-rooms filled with spawned compost. A clear difference between female and male sciarid control was obser...
Article
Incidence of brown-discoloured mushrooms, differing from brown blotch disease caused by Pseudomonas tolaasii, has increased in the Netherlands and been responsible for considerable economic losses. A comparative SEM-study of diseased tissue revealed that hyphae were collapsed and covered with a plaque in which numerous bacteria were embedded. The p...
Conference Paper
Polysaccharide extracts of a large range of higher basidiomycetes fruit bodies were prepared by hot-water extraction and further purified by ethanol precipitation. The resulting solutions contained 0.3–5.0% protein and 0.3–6.1% phenolic compounds. Extracts of all mushrooms activated reactive oxygen species (ROS) in human peripheral blood monocytic...
Article
Full-text available
Hot water extracts of 2 groups of medicinal mushrooms have been tested from the genera Agaricus, Antrodia, Auricularia, Coprinus, Cordyceps, Hericium, Grifola, Ganoderma, Lentinus, Phellinus, and Trametes for ROS-generating activity in human cells and for DPPH-TEAC antioxidant activity. Group 1 comprised 39 commercial extracts (7 species), and grou...