Introduction:

in April 2002, the National Food Authority of Sweden published a study in which the presence of a carcinogen was reported for the first time in experimental animals, and was identified as acrylamide. Various studies have shown that the β-glucans of Pleurotus ostreatus have diverse biological properties including antioxidant and anticancer activities.

Methods:

β-glucans were obtained by alkaline-acid hydrolysis from Pleurotus ostreatus, and their content was characterized by liquid chromatography. To evaluate the effect of β-glucans on the expression of glutathione, Balb/c mice were used, and 4 test groups were established. All groups were fed as usual, groups treated with acrylamide were administered the compound intragastrically at a concentration of 50 μg/mL, and β-glucan treatment was given at a concentration of 50 μg/mL.

Results:

no mortality was observed after exposure to the tested dose of acrylamide; only signs of peripheral neuropathy such as hyperactivity and tremors were observed after five days of experimentation, and were maintained over 30 days after the experiment. On the other hand, an increase in lipid peroxidation levels was observed in the livers of the acrylamide-treated mice, which were lower in the mice treated with β-glucans.

Conclusions:

results show that β-glucans may act as antioxidant agents able to protect the liver against oxidative stress as caused by the intake of acrylamide.

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