Mice Killed by Sugihiratake Extract Provide Clue to Mystery Brain Fever

When mice are injected extract of the edible sugihiratake mushroom, they suffer a toxic reaction that causes kidney failure, Prof. Tomihisa Ota, a specialist in natural products chemistry at Kanazawa University Graduate School of Natural Science and Technology, announced.

It is expected the research will provide a clue to help identify the cause a series of mysterious cases of brain fever in kidney patients who ate sugihiratake (angel wing) mushrooms last autumn in the Tohoku and Hokuriku regions.

The research team led by Prof. Ota obtained the extract by heating sugihiratake gathered last autumn in Tohoku and Hokuriku to 90 C for 30 minutes.

The team injected mice with one milligram of extract per gram of body weight. Seven of the ten mice injected died within 24 hours.

The mice are suspected to have died of shock caused by damage to red blood cells and kidney failure.

Toxicity was not identified in essence extracted by heating it to 100 C.

According to Prof. Ota, a toxic sugar-protein not destroyed by heating the mushroom to the temperature of miso soup was suspected of being contained in the mushrooms or in organisms attached to them.

It is possible the toxic substance entered the bloodstream, destroyed red blood cells and produced a toxic effect, Ota said.


http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20050208wo71.htm