Psyched Wellness has announced preliminary data from tests completed by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) on its extract AME-1.
One of the primary immune cells in the brain is the microglia which facilitate neurodevelopment and neurodegeneration.
Recent work by Psyched Wellness investigated how the company’s Amanita Muscaria extract, AME-1, could modify microglial functions.
Microglia respond to a variety of stimuli, including lipopolysaccharides found in the cell walls of bacteria (LPS), viral components, such as poly I:C nucleotides, and inflammatory cytokines such as tumour necrosis factor (TNF).
In a recent study, researchers stimulated human microglial cells with LPS, poly I:C and TNF in the presence of AME-1 to determine if the extract could modify how microglia respond to these common stimulants.
The researchers found that a specific nucleotide, poly I:C, caused the microglia to be more activated than normal and produce important immune mediators. This could potentially indicate that AME-1 boosts the antiviral immune response in the brain, perhaps protecting brain tissue from viral infection.
The data showed that AME-1 had no significant effect on how microglia respond to LPS and TNF. However, AME-1 potentiated poly I:C activation of microglial cells, resulting in greater production of the chemokine, IL-8.
The chemokine IL-8 is a protein that attracts immune cells to the site of infection. Preliminary research has shown that this process may be mediated by AME-1 upregulation of the Toll-Like Receptor -3, which is the receptor that mediates microglial responses to poly I:C.
Scientific advisor to Psyched Wellness, Brian Tancowny, commented: “This additional preliminary evidence of the investigative study is revealing key functional properties of the AME-1 extract.
“This Amanita Muscaria mushroom functional properties will be further investigated and identified in this scientific approach to help understand the functional neuroprotective property of AME-1.”
Further experiments will examine how AME-1 upregulates TLR3 by microglial cells and how this could be contributing to the increased responses to poly I:C, which may contribute to the anti-viral immune response in the brain and thus reduce viral infection.
Psyched Wellness emphasis that this work is preliminary, and more work is needed to further investigate the potential benefits from the natural product AME-1.
Psyched Wellness COO, David Shisel, added: ”When it comes to the Amanita Muscaria mushroom, we are the first in many fields of research.
“Our extract, AME-1 provides us with the opportunity to do multiple studies and the more we examine the extract, the more we understand this incredible powerful mushroom. This is just the tip of the iceberg and we plan to continue researching and understanding its powers along the way.”
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