MADRID, May 18.(EUROPE PRESS) -Scientists from the University of Granada (UGR) have shown that a standardized extract of the mycelium of the fungus 'Lentinula edodes', better known as the Chinese mushroom or shiitake, has a modulating effect on the virulence of the pathogen 'Pseudomonas aeruginosa', one of the bacteria more resistant to antibiotics than currently exists.'Pseudomonas aeruginosa' is a bacterium belonging to the group of pathogenic gamma-proteobacteria, opportunistic in animals and plants.It is considered the cause of numerous cases of acute infections, frequently in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, burn patients, critically ill patients and especially in patients with concomitant pathologies such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). ), bronchiectasis and cystic fibrosis, thus giving it great importance among the pathogens responsible for nosocomial infections due to its high morbidity and lethality values.Likewise, it is not part of the human commensal intestinal microbiota.However, exhaustion after antibiotic treatment and its changes (dysbiosis) facilitate colonization of the intestinal tract by P.aeruginosa' resistant to multiple drugs, due to its several resistance systems such as its secretion systems, its beta-lactamases, its motility, its biofilm formation capacity and its quorum sensing mechanism.In 2017, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria as a priority to guide research towards the development of new antibiotics.On this priority list, 'P.aeruginosa' was placed second and the importance of developing alternative agents against this bacterium was judged critical.Professors and researchers Daddaoua Abdelali, Olga Martínez Agustín and Fermín Sánchez de Medina, belonging to the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II and the Department of Pharmacology, respectively (both from the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Granada), members of the Center for Biomedical Research in the Liver and Digestive Diseases Network (CIBERehd), of the Biosanitary Research Institute (IBS) and the "José Mataix" Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology, have investigated the effect of a standardized extract of the mycelium of the fungus Lentinula edodes (AHCC ) on the virulence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa within the framework of the FEDER project (30B572F301).AHCC is the name of a product derived from mushrooms with a high content of oligosaccharides, an enzymatically fermented extract from the mycelium of the basidiomycete 'Lentinula edodes'.Its composition consists of various lipids, amino acids, minerals and, obviously, oligosaccharides, among which glucans of the B-1.4 type stand out.The acetylated forms of these oligosaccharides have a molecular weight of less than 5 kDa (OS size after acid hydrolysis), constituting what is believed to be the main active principle of AHCC.This compound has been used as a supplement in humans, as well as a therapeutic agent, in addition to having demonstrated efficacy in terms of anti-inflammatory effects.The UGR research group has experimentally shown that AHCC modulates the growth and pathogenicity of the 'P.aeruginosa' PAO1, inhibiting different virulence systems such as biofilm formation and motility.In addition, in cocultures with eukaryotic cells, AHCC reduced the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines (IL-6 and TNF) by inhibiting signal transduction pathways that modulate the inflammatory response of macrophages, as well as the internalization capacity of the bacteria within epithelial cells. Bowel (IEC18).Finally, quantitative analyzes using real-time quantitative PCR (RTqPCR) show that AHCC supplementation produces a decrease in the expression levels of genes involved in virulence."With this work, we intend to study the molecular bases that can support the use of oligosaccharides, more specifically AHCC, as alternative compounds or adjuvants to conventional antibiotics used against 'P. aeruginosa,'" points out Abdelali Daddaoua, one of the researchers at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II responsible for this research work.© 2022 Europe Press.The redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the contents of this website without your prior and express consent is expressly prohibited.