Prevention of early Alzheimer’s disease by Erinacine A-Enriched Hericium erinaceus Mycelia pilot double-blind placebo-controlled study

In this study, I-Chen et al. (2020) sought to explore the benefits and consequences of using H. erinaceus mycelia (EAHE) capsules (350 mg/capsule; containing 5 mg/g erinacine A active ingredient) three times daily to treat patients with mild Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). After a 3-week no-drug screening period; participants randomized in two groups (treatment or placebo) underwent a 49-week double-blind intervention. Data collected during the study included ocular and cognitive parameters, biomarker analysis, and neuroimaging. The results showed that the EAHE group scored higher on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living score (IADL), and had greater contrast sensitivity. On the other hand, the placebo group showed a marked reduction in the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument Score (CASI), lower levels of biomarkers like calcium, albumin, apolipoprotein E4, hemoglobin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, and marked increases in alpha1-antichymotrypsin and amyloid-beta peptide 1–40 during the study. Additionally, neuroimaging revealed marked differences in brain tissue diffusion values between participants of the two groups compared to baseline readings. The participants did not suffer from any side effects except for four individuals who could not complete the study because of experiencing side effects such as abdominal discomfort, nausea, and skin rash. The authors conclude that using three 350 mg EAHE capsules is a potentially beneficial intervention with good safety profiles, and carries prospects of neurocognitive gains. [NPID: Early Alzheimer’s Disease, Erinacine A, Hericium erinaceus, mycelia, mushroom, cognitive decline]

Year: 2020

Reference: Li, I.-C., Chang, H.-H., Lin, C.-H., Chen, W.-P., Lu, T.-H., Lee, L.-Y., Chen, Y.-W., Chen, Y.-P., Chen, C.-C., & Lin, D. P.-C. (2020). Prevention of early alzheimer’s disease by Erinacine a-enriched hericium erinaceus mycelia pilot double-blind placebo-controlled study. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2020.00155

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