Evaluation of therapeutic activity of hypogeous ascomycetes and basidiomycetes from North America

This study is the first broad investigation of therapeutic activities of hypogeous truffles and truffle-like fungi (Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes) from North America. Twenty-two species from 12 families were evaluated in several biological assays for antimicrobial, antimalarial, antiinflammatory, antioxidant, antituberculosis, and anticancer activities. Biological screening results indicate that 1 species showed antimalarial activity, 11 species were active in antioxidant assay, 9 species were active in antiinflammatory assay, 9 species showed antituberculosis activity, and 2 species showed anticancer activity. Among the screened species, Elaphomyces granulatus, E. muricatus, Geopora clausa, Hymenogaster subalpinits, Melanogaster tuberiformis, Rhizopogon couchii, R. nigrescens, R. pedicellus, R. subaustralis, R. subgelatinosits, and Sclerodema laeve expressed therapeutic activity in more than one assay. Our results indicate that this group of fungi has promising therapeutic activities that could lead to the development of new agents for the treatment and prevention of diseases.