Mozhdeh Jafari - School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Inflammation and Inflammatory Diseases Research Centre, Mashhad, Iran
Mohammad Hossein Boskabady - Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Seyed Abdolrahim Rezaee - School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Inflammation and Inflammatory Diseases Research Centre, Mashhad, Iran
Sharareh Rezaeian - Industrial Fungi Biotechnology Research Department, Research Institute for Industrial Biotechnology, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR)- Khorasan Razavi Branch, Mashhad, Iran
Sepideh Behrooz - Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Rezvan Ramezannejad - Industrial Fungi Biotechnology Research Department, Research Institute for Industrial Biotechnology, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR)- Khorasan Razavi Branch, Mashhad, Iran
Hamid Pourianfar - Industrial Fungi Biotechnology Research Department, Research Institute for Industrial Biotechnology, Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR)- Khorasan Razavi Branch, Mashhad, Iran

Objective(s): Immunomodulatory activity of β-glucans of shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) has been known. We investigated whether β-glucans from L. edodes would attenuate the acute effects of lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on peripheral hematological parameters in mice.Materials and Methods: An in-house β-glucans extract (BG) prepared from fruiting bodies of shiitake mushroom L. edodes was chemically measured and characterized using spectrophotometry and HPLC. Male BALB/c mice directly inhaled aerosolized LPS of ۳ mg/ml and were treated with BG or commercial β-glucan (known as lentinan; LNT) (۱۰ mg/kg bw) at ۱ hr before or ۶ hr after LPS inhalation. The blood samples were collected by cardiac puncture from euthanized mice at ۱۶ hr post-treatment. Results: The results showed a significant reduction in levels of blood parameters, including red blood cells (RBC), hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), and platelets (PLT); and a significant increase in blood lymphocyte counts in LPS-treated mice as compared with the control mice (P≤۰.۰۵). Total white blood cells, neutrophils, and monocyte counts did not show any significant difference among the groups. Treatment of LPS-challenged mice with LNT or BG significantly increased the levels of RBC, HGB, HCT, and PLT; and reduced blood lymphocyte counts as compared with LPS-treated mice (P≤۰.۰۵).Conclusion: These findings suggest that β-glucans from L. edodes might be effective in attenuating the effects of inhaled LPS on peripheral blood parameters. Thus, these findings might be useful in acute inflammatory diseases particularly pulmonary infectious diseases in which the hematological parameters would be affected.

β-glucans, hematological parameters, Inflammation, Inhalation, Lentinan Lipopolysaccharide, Shiitake