Sun-exposed oyster mushrooms help patients fight TB

Baltimore (June 9, 2019) – Tuberculosis remains one of the most deadly infectious diseases in low-income countries: about 1.6 million people die each year. In a new study, researchers have shown sun-exposed oyster mushrooms to be a readily available source of vitamin D that can help TB patients better respond to anti-TB drugs by improving the immune response.

"Tuberculosis is becoming increasingly difficult to fight because of the emergence of drug-resistant strains, which creates an urgent need for new treatments that can support first-line drugs," said TibebeSelbadie Seyoum Keflie, PhD student at University of Hohenheim, Germany. "This source of vitamin D is ideal for low-income countries because mushrooms can be easily distributed and administered safely, inexpensively and easily to reproduce."

Keflie, who conducted the research with Hans Konrad Biesalski, will present the research at Nutrition 2019, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, which was held from June 8 to 11, 2019 in Baltimore.

Studies have shown that vitamin D induces the body to form an antimicrobial compound that attacks the bacterial cause of tuberculosis. Although exposure to the sun can increase a person's vitamin D levels, it must be obtained through a diet when exposure to the sun is rare.

The researchers used oyster mushrooms because they are an inexpensive, safe and readily available source of vitamin D that is easily absorbed by the body. Although fresh oyster mushrooms contain almost no vitamin D, the mushroom produces it after exposure to the sun, just like the human body.

"This is the first time vitamin D from oysters exposed to the sun has been shown to be a potential treatment in addition to TB," said Keflie. "Through educational action, it might be possible to teach people with TB to irradiate their own fungus for a brief period before cooking."

For the study, the researchers offered a group of tuberculosis patients sandwich bread containing 146 micrograms of vitamin D from mushrooms oyster-exposed to the sun each morning during the first four months of their TB treatment.

At the end of the four months, 95% of patients receiving enriched bread were rated with the lowest TB severity score on a scale of 1 to 5. The vitamin D levels of the treatment group were significantly higher than those of patients not receiving bread. more than one-third of them no longer have vitamin D deficiency. The researchers also found that patients who ate enriched bread showed a significant improvement in the immunological response over the four months.

The researchers plan to conduct additional research on vitamin D interactions and immunological responses in larger and more diverse TB patient groups. They are also developing different methods of drying mushrooms to determine how to achieve the highest levels of vitamin D.

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Nutrition 2019 is the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition which is held from June 8 to 11, 2019 at the Baltimore Convention Center. It's the national gathering place for more than 3,600 researchers, practitioners and other renowned professionals to announce exciting research results and explore their implications for practice and policy. Scientific symposia focus on the latest advances in cellular and physiological nutrition and metabolism, clinical and translational nutrition, public and global health, population science, and science and food systems. http: // www.nutrition.org /N19 # Nutrition2019

ASN is the leading professional organization of nutrition researchers and clinicians in the world. Founded in 1928, the company brings together leading nutrition researchers, health practitioners, policy makers, and industry leaders to advance our knowledge and application of nutrition. ASN publishes four peer-reviewed journals and offers educational and professional development opportunities to advance nutrition research, practice and education. http: // www.nutrition.org

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