Caterpillar fungus believed to cure ailments
A new study, published in the journal RNA, has shed light on the “golden worm” or “Tibetan mushroom” thought by locals in Tibet to cure everything from cancer to asthma to erectile dysfunction.
For a Tibetan mushroom to form, a fungus must attach itself to a moth larva burrowed in the soil. It will then slowly consume the host from within, taking over its brain and making the young caterpillar move to position which the fungus can grow and spore again.
The parasite is called cordyceps and produces the chemical cordycepin which scientists now believe has anti-inflammatory properties.
Study co-author Cornelia H. de Moor, of the University of Nottingham, explained: "Inflammation is normally a beneficial response to a wound or infection, but in diseases like asthma it happens too fast and to too high of an extent. When cordycepin is present, it inhibits that response strongly."
The chemical does this in a way not previously seen: at the mRNA stage, where it inhibits polyadenylation. This means it stops swelling at the genetic cellular level - a novel anti-inflammatory approach that could lead to new drugs for cancer, asthma, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, and cardiovascular-disease patients who don't respond well to current medications.
However, these new drugs may be a long way off. The science of parasitic fungi is still in its early stages, and no medicine currently available utilises cordycepin as an anti-inflammatory. The only way a patient could gain its benefits would be by consuming wild-harvested mushrooms.
"I can't recommend taking wild-harvested medications," warned de Moor. "Each sample could have a completely different dose, and there are mushrooms where a single bite will kill you."
