Product Description

AC Essence 1000™ is a Chemopreventive health supplement made from powdered Antrodia Camphorata Mycelia, a rare fungus found naturally only in Taiwan. Antrodia camphorata (syn. Antrodia cinnamomea, Taiwanofungus cinnamomeas) is an indigenous and rare mushroom that grows slowly in the wild, within the inner cavity of Cinnamomun kanehirai (Bull camphor tree).It is referred to as a “national treasure of Taiwan” and is used as herbal medicine for treatment of food and drug intoxications, diarrhea, abdominal pain, hypertension, itchy skin and to improve immune system and liver function.₁

Triterpenoids and Antroquinonol are ₂ important bioactive ingredient found in AC exhibit anti-viral, antioxidant and liver protection. Compared to the well known Ganoderma Lucidium (Lingzhi) , AC contains more than 200 types of Triterpenoids and is 10-15 times higher than Ganoderma Lucidium. _2,3

Research has shown that A. camphorata possesses a number of bioactive properties suchas anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertensive,anti-hepatitis B virus replication, hepatoprotective and neuroprotective functions._4-11

Additional information

1. Antioxidant protection against Atherosclerosis
   A. camphorata are potent inhibitors of lipid peroxidation, possessing marked free-radical-scavenging activity. It protects low-density lipoproteins against oxidative modification and improves endothelial function, which may provide effective protection against atherosclerosis.₁₂

2. Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory effect in the management of Nephritis
   Studies have demonstrated that the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effect of A. camphorata may play a role in the management of glomerulonephritis. Nrf2 and NF-kB are involved in the anti-inflammatory effects while the immunomodulatory effect is attributed to presence of polysaccharides and adenosine._11,14-16 Another in vivo study reported that A. camphorata was able to protect the kidneys from nephritis by suppression of urine protein and serum blood urea nitrogen levels and decreased the thickness of the kidney glomerular basement membrane in SLE-prone NZB/W F1 mice.₁₈

3. Hepatoprotective activity of A. camphorata
   Excessive alcohol consumption results in oxidative stress and elevated intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation in hepatic cells. These changes play a key role in the development of a spectrum of alcoholic liver diseases (ALD) including steatosis (fatty liver), steatohepatitis (alcoholic hepatitis) and cirrhosis.The liver protective property of A. camphorata is well established.2, 20-21 Studies have shown that A. camphorata may exert its hepatoprotective effects through different mechanisms such as scavenging free radicals, mediating antioxidant enzymes, inhibiting inflammatory mediators and inducing regeneration of the liver cells.3 A. camphorata prevented the elevation of levels of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and bilirubin in ethanol-intoxicated rats to an extent that was comparable to the standard drug silymarin.₂₃ In another study, the administration of A. camphorata significantly prevented an increase of the activities of AST and ALT in the serum of mice with Propionibacterium acnes- and lipopolysaccharide-induced hepatitis.₂₄

4. Slowing the Progression of Liver Fibrosis
   Liver fibrosis is the common end stage of most chronic liver diseases and its progression leads to liver cirrhosis and liver cancer. It is postulated that A. camphorata can retard the progression of liver fibrosis induced by CCl4 by scavenging free radicals formed in the liver.₂In the study of the effectiveness of A. camphorata in the preventive and curative treatment of liver fibrosis, treatment with A. camphorata to CCl4 administrated rats clearly accelerated the reversal of fibrosis and lowered the elevated mRNA levels of hepatic collagen I, transforming growth factor (TGF)- β 1 and tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1.₂₅

5. Inhibition of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) Replication
   In addition, A. camphorata displayed anti-HBV effects on both wild-type and lamivudine- resistantHBV mutants.₂₇An in vitro study showed that polysaccharides from A. camphorata extract at a dosage of 50µg/ml showed a higher level of anti-HBsAg activity without cytotoxic effects compared to α-interferon at a dosage of 1000U/ml.₂₈

6. Anti-Cancer Potential of A. camphorata
   The anti-cancer potential of A. camphorata was first recognized in 2002, when it was shown to exhibit significant cytotoxicity against leukemia HL-60 cells but not against cultured human endothelial cells.29Thereafter studies have verified the anti-proliferative activity of A. camphorata against various cancersin vitro and in vivoviamodulating multiple signaling pathways at various cellular levels, resulting in apoptosis, call cycle arrest, growth inhibition, anti-angiogenesis and inhibition of metastasis.

7. A. camphorata as adjuvant treatment
   A. camphorata showed enhanced cytotoxicity when it is used in combination with other agents such as paclitaxel, trichostatin A (TSA) and lovastatin.31-33 This synergistic effect suggest the potential for its use as an adjuvant to chemotherapy.One study showed that A. camphorata extract when combined with anti-tumor agents Cisplatin and Mitomycin showed adjuvant anti-proliferative effects on hepatoma C3A and PLC/PRF/5 cells in vitro and on xenografted cells in tumor-implanted nude mice in vivo. A. camphorata showed its adjuvanteffects through the inhibition of MDR gene expressions and the pathway of COX-2- dependent inhibition of p-AKT, which ultimately resulted in the induction of apoptosis in hepatomacells.₈

8. Protection against radiation side effects
   A. camphorata is able to provide a radioprotective effect to immune cells and enhances radiation-induced inflammation and cytotoxicity in cancer cells. Pre-treatment with A. camphorata differentially regulated the mRNA expression of several important immunomodulatory genes in response to irradiation in normal and cancer cells.₃₄

Supplement Facts

References

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