The inhibitory effects of different polar extracts of Sanghuangporus vaninii (water, ethanol, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and extraction residual water extracts) on the production of inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and TNF-α in RAW264.7 cells stimulated by LPS were evaluated. The inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 replication and entry by ethanol and water extract of S. vaninii was appraised. The expression level of nucleocapsid protein was detected by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR and Western Blot using Vero as host cells. The results indicated that the ethanol, petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, n-butanol, and water extracts of S. vaninii showed good anti-inflammatory effects, and the inhibitory effect was significantly enhanced with the increase of concentration, and the levels of IL-6 and TNF-α produced by RAW264.7 cells stimulated by LPS were significantly reduced. The ethanol extract and water extract of S. vaninii significantly inhibited viral replication by inhibiting the expression level of nucleocapsid protein in SARS-CoV-2.

Sanghuang, as a group of medicinal macrofungi recorded in ancient Chinese traditional medicine books, has many functions such as anti-tumor, reduction of blood suger, reduction of blood fat, anti-oxidation, and reduction of uric acid. Modern taxonomic studies have shown that sanghuang has high species diversity and widely distributed in different areas of China and other areas of north Hemisphere, growing in mulberry, poplar, clove, honeysuckle, northeast China ash, jujube, walnut and other broad-leaved trees. Sanghuang have been artificially cultivated in China since 1990s, and the species used for cultivation are mainly Sanghuangporus sanghuang, S. vaninii, S. baumii, and Inonotus hispidus. The scale of the sanghuang industry is progressively expanding, forming a health industry with high economic value and social benefits. In this paper, we summarized the current status of sanghuang industry in China, relating to the historical record, the change of classification status, the functional researches, production development, bottleneck problems and countermeasures. The problems existing in sanghuang industry development, and some recommendations for its future development in China are proposed.

Based on morphological and molecular data, a new species Sanghuangporus mongolicus T. Bau sp. nov. is described from Horqin sandy land, Inner Mongolia. Morphologically, it is characterized by perennial, semicircular basidiomata with thin edges, a dimitic hyphal system, and elliptic to broadly elliptic, thick-walled basidiospores measuring 4.2-5×2.7-3.5 μm. The ITS and nrLSU phylogeny shows that Sanghuangporus mongolicus belongs to Sanghuangporus and forms an independent clade. Illustrated description and taxonomic discussion of this new species is given.

To study the uric acid-lowering effects of Sanghuangporus vaninii extracts, the active parts of S. vaninii basidiomata were selected and the functional mechanism was explored. Rat hyperuric acid animal model was established, and SPF male SD rats were randomly divided into 8 experimental groups: normal control group (NC group), model group (Model group), positive control group (PC group), alcohol extract treatment group (CT group), water extract treatment group (ST group), treatment group of water extraction precipitated by 20% ethanol (ST20 group), treatment group of water extraction precipitated by 50% ethanol (ST50 group) and treatment group of water extraction precipitated by 70% ethanol (ST70 group). After continuous intragastric administration for 8 weeks, all rats were euthanized. The levels of uric acid, creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, AST (alanine aminotransferase), and ALT (aspartate aminotransferase) in the serum were determined, and the uric acid-lowering effect and protective effect on kidneys of S. vaninii extract were analyzed on the basis of liver-kidney pathological section and immunohistochemical method. Compared with the model group, the levels of serum uric acid, blood urea nitrogen, and ALT in each treatment group of S. vaninii extract were significantly decreased (P<0.05). HE and Masson staining showed that the kidney structure was clear, and the pathological phenomena such as cell necrosis and fibrosis were significantly improved. The uric acid-lowering activity of S. vaninii basidiomata were mainly displayed by the water extract, and the ST20 component of crude polysaccharide had the best uric acid-lowering activity. Immunohistochemical results showed that S. vaninii polysaccharide significantly enhanced the expression level of uric acid transporter ABCG2 in rat kidney tissue. The uric acid-lowering active site of S. vaninii basidiomata is mainly water extraction, and the macromolecular water-extracted polysaccharide ST20 has the best uric acid lowering effect. It is preliminarily proved that S. vaninii polysaccharide can promote uric acid excretion and alleviate the pathological damage of the kidney by activating the ABCG2 transporter in the kidney. S. vaninii polysaccharide as a pharmacological inducer of uric acid transporter ABCG2 can be used as a potential drug for the treatment of gouty arthritis.

Antioxidant activities and chemical components of ethanol extracts of fruit bodies of wild Sanghuangporus sanghuang and S. vaninii were compared. DPPH scavenging activity, superoxide anion scavenging activity and β-carotene bleaching assay were used to compare the antioxidant activity. The results showed that both S. sanghuang and S. vaninii had strong antioxidant activity, and the antioxidant activity of S. vaninii was significantly stronger than that of S. sanghuang. The content of total flavonoid and total polyphenol in the ethanol extract of S. vaninii were higher than that of S. sanghuang. Ultra performance liquid chromatography tandem triple quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Triple-TOF-MS) was used to compare the differences of chemical components in the ethanol extracts. Nineteen phenolic compounds were common to S. sanghuang and S. vaninii, and additional three phenolic compounds were identified from S. vaninii.

The first record on the medicinal use of “Sanghuang” date back 2 000 years to China’s The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica, by the name “Sanger”. The term “Sanghuang” was first reported in a Chinese medicinal book The characters of drugs written by Zhen Quan in early Tang Dynasty. Sanghuang differs from other medicinal fungi in having many morphologically resembling species. The “Sanghuang” appeared in the numerous ancient books has been described by different people and actually represents different species. In ancient times it was not possible to study both microscopic morphological features and DNA sequencing, to clarify species separation. Modern research of Sanghuang originated from discovery of its excellent anti-tumor capability by the Japanese scholars in 1968. In Japan and Korea, Phellinus linteus was long adopted as the scientific binomial for the Sanghuang species. However, in 1998 the Chinese mycologists found P. linteus is distributed in Central America, not in Asia. In 2012, the genuine Sanghuang was presented as a new species, Inonotus sanghuang, grows only on Morus. In 2016, the new genus Sanghuangporus was proposed to accommodate I. sanghuang and some other closely related species, and Sanghuangporus sanghuang thus became the scientific binomial for the Sanghuang species. So far, Sanghuangporus comprises 14 species, which are generally specialized with their host tree species, and S. sanghuang is the only species grows on Morus. Pharmacological activities of S. sanghuang are better than two other commercially available species, S. baumii and S. vaninii. The cultivated fruiting bodies of the so-called Sanghuang in China, Japan and Korea, are not S. sanghuang, but S. vaninii. According to the excellent health-care effects and safety of S. sanghuang and S. vaninii, we suggest the government departments accept these two medicinal fungi in the China Pharmacopoeia, and consider the fungi as safe food stuff and Chinese herbal medicine for promoting development of the Sanghuang industry. It is essential to clearly specify the correct scientific name and Chinese name usages of these two medicinal fungi used in their products.