We all remember the COVID-19 pandemic; being stuck indoors, social distancing, wearing masks.
And what caused all of that? A virus. And interestingly, certain mushrooms may help block or reduce viral infection.
But what exactly is a virus? The truth is, most people don’t fully understand.
A virus is basically a little bit of genetic material (like DNA or RNA) wrapped in a protective coat, which makes it surprisingly hard to destroy. Inside that genetic material is a set of instructions, a blueprint for making more viruses. One important detail: viruses are not alive.
A helpful way to think about viruses is as if they are tiny robots, which are also not alive and are hard to destroy. This is also why antibiotics don’t work against viruses, as they’re designed to kill living bacteria, not robotic-like invaders. If we keep with this robot analogy, that DNA inside a virus would be like programming inside the robot detailing on how to make more robots.
So how does this takeover actually happen?
First the virus needs to get into our cells. We can think of our cells as little factories. Our viral robots need to trick our little factories into letting them in. It’s almost like the robot knows a secret handshake or passcode in order to get past security and into our cell factories. This is analogous to a virus interacting with a specific cell surface receptor to gain access.
Under normal conditions, these cell factories are busy producing everything needed to stay healthy and function properly. But during a viral infection, the robot hijacks the factory. It overrides the machinery and uses its programming to start manufacturing new robot parts, which quickly assemble into brand-new robots or viruses.
What starts as a single robot entering the factory can rapidly turn into an entire army. These newly made robots then exit the cell, move on to other factories, and repeat the process again and again. This is how a viral infection spreads throughout the body.
Let’s look at a detailed image of how mushrooms may interrupt these steps in COVID infection.
The figure above from Arunachalam et al., published in Food Chemistry Advances (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36686330/), illustrates the multiple mechanisms by which mushrooms help protect against viral infections such as COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). An important topic this time a year.
The top panels depict direct antiviral actions. In our robot factory analogy, this is all about stopping the robots before they get inside. The top left highlights various mushroom-derived bioactive compounds implicated in antiviral protection. The top middle panel shows how these fungal molecules may inhibit viral attachment to host cell receptors, for example, blocking SARS-CoV-2 binding to the ACE2 receptor, thus thwarting the secret handshake. This panel also illustrates preserved integrity of the cell and nuclear membranes (shown as solid lines), in contrast to membrane disruption (dotted lines) seen in the absence of these compounds (top right). Think of this as the difference between a factory with reinforced walls and alert guards (supported by mushrooms) versus one with broken doors and lax security. When the factory stays intact, the robots can’t get in, and if they can’t get in, they can’t take over the machinery. As a result, viral replication is reduced. This is illustrated in the top right panel, where high levels of replication are shown in the absence of protection, but clearly blocked when mushroom compounds are present (red circle with a black X). Fewer robots getting inside means fewer robots being built.
The bottom panels shift focus to immune modulation, what happens once the body’s defense teams respond. Mushroom bioactive compounds influence key immune cells, including T cells, B cells, macrophages, and dendritic cells (bottom left). In our analogy, these are the factory’s outside security forces and cleanup crews. Rather than overreacting and causing damage, these immune cells produce fewer pro-inflammatory cytokines. This helps prevent a cytokine storm, an uncontrolled immune response that can cause severe lung injury and damage to other organs (bottom middle). The bottom right panel shows the end result: reduced lung injury through less collateral damage to the lung cell factories.
Importantly, these two processes are connected. By stopping robots early, reducing viral entry and replication, the overall viral load is lower (the total amount of viruses in our bodies). With fewer robots flooding the system, the immune security team doesn’t need to go into overdrive. This relationship is shown by the diagonal link between the antiviral effects in the top panels and the immune responses below.
Cytokines are signaling molecules that regulate inflammation, and a cytokine storm represents a dangerous breakdown in immune control. Taken together, this figure shows that mushroom-derived compounds may both block the robots at the door and keep the security team calm and effective, leading to better outcomes during viral infections.
One class of bioactive compounds highlighted in this figure is polysaccharides. Beta-glucans, are the most well-studied of the fungal polysaccharides, which are structural components of fungal cell walls. Beta-glucans are recognized by Dectin-1, a receptor expressed on human immune cells, and activation of this pathway may enhance antiviral immune responses (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30619632/; https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32760409/).
During the winter months, when viral spread is at its peak, even small protective measures can make a difference. Supporting your immune system naturally may help you stay resilient through the season. Brain Wave mushrooms may be just the key.
Dr. Andy