In vitro growth inhibitory activity of the Portuguese wild mushroom Clitocybe alexandri in human tumour cell lines

Some mushrooms are a powerful source of bioactive compounds. lndeed, many pre-clinical studies have been conducted in human tumour cell lines and in some cases a number of compounds extracted from mushrooms have entered clinical trials [1]. Our previous results showed that phenolic (methanolic and ethanolic) and polissacharidic extracts from Clitocybe alexandri inhibited the growth of four human cell lines (lung, breast, colon and gastric cancer) [2]. The aim of the present work was to: i) further elucidate the mechanism of action of the ethanolic extract that leads to the observed cell growth inhibition, by analysing the cell cycle profile of the NCI-H460 cells treated with this extract and ii) identify and quantify the chemical compounds present in the phenolic and polissacharidic extracts.