Ethnopharmacological relevance: Lignosus rhinocerotis mushroom iswidelyusedastraditionalmedicine
and assoupingredientinMalaysiaandHongKong.Itssclerotiumisthepartofedibilityandis
traditionallyusedforthetreatmentoffever,cough,asthmaandcancer.Inviewofitssafetyprofile, very
little informationisfoundinscientific literature.
Materials andmethods: WeevaluatedthepotentialgenotoxicandmutageniceffectsofLrintheAmes
test using Salmonella typhimurium strains TA98,TA100,TA102,TA1535andTA1537,an in vitro
chromosomeaberrationtestinChineseHamsterOvary(CHO-K1)cellsandan in vivo erythrocyte
micronucleustestinICRmice.
Results: In alltestedconcentrations,nomutagenicitywasobservedineithertestingstrainunderboth
presenceandabsenceofS9metabolicmixturewhentesteduptothehighestdoseof100mg/ml.No
significantincreasesinchromosomeaberrationnumbersormicronucleatedpolychromaticerythrocytes
wereobserved.Erythropoiesiswasnotaffectedinanimalsgavagedupto2000mg/kgofLr.
Conclusions: Resultsfromthisstudyconcludethat Lignosusrhinocerotis myceliumdoesnotprovoke
mutagenicityandgenotoxicityintheseappliedsystems.