Assessment of anti-inflammatory, lipid peroxidation and acute toxicity of extracts obtained from wild higher basidiomycetes mushrooms collected from Akure (southwest Nigeria).

Ethanolic extracts of three wild medicinal mushrooms, namely Lenzites betulina (LET), Trametes versicolor (TET), and Coriolopsis polyzona (CET), collected from Akure, southwest Nigeria, were assessed for their lipid peroxidation, anti-inflammatory, and acute toxicity effects. The inhibition of the formation of thiobarbituric acid reactive species (TBARS) by extracts was concentration dependent and ranged from 86.99% to 92.18% at 1000 µg/ mL. The IC50 of the extracts was also in the range of 222.81 µg/mL to 737.13 µg/mL. The anti-inflammatory effect measured by inhibition of mice ear edema was higher and significantly different (P ≤ 0.05) than the control. The acute toxicity test also revealed tolerance to the three ethanolic extracts by Artemia salina at concentrations of 10 µg/mL to 1000 µg/mL, except for ethanolic extracts of LET and TET, which exhibited toxicity against this invertebrate at 1000 µg/mL. This research has shown that ethanolic extracts of these three macrofungi could be good sources of safe and effective antioxidant and antinflammatory agents for biopharmaceutical exploitation.