AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound)

AHCC (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) is an extract obtained by culturing mycelia of Basidiomycete (mushrooms) in large-scale tanks over a long period. Originally it was difficult to culture these mycelia (mushrooms) for long periods of time, however, it has now been achieved by performing the process under aseptically maintained culture procedures.

AHCC in the form of BRM: Biological Response Modifiers, boosts the ability of cancer patients to treat cancer by regulating the functioning of the entire body, starting with the immune system. Cancer originates from a compromised immunity and, as a result, various cells become changed into cancerous cells. Treatment of cancer requires that the abnormalities developed in the immune system are addressed at the start. AHCC helps to restore the integrity of the patient’s immune system and decreased immune response by its immuno-stimulating activity.

Chemotherapy is a recognized and widely used treatment for cancer, however, it does produce a range of unpleasant side effects such as nausea, vomiting, depilation, decreased appetite, disturbed liver function and decreased white blood corpuscles. AHCC mediates the side effects of chemotherapy facilitating its effective use. It also improves the patients’general condition and quality of life (QOL) and is considered to provide valuable therapy in its gentle execution of the treatment.

Manufacturing of AHCC is conducted to HACCP-9000 international quality assurance standards for foods. This ensures the safety and quality of the product which, being derived from a natural source (mushroom), contains a range of components. The product has been subjected to pharmaceutical standard tests for toxicity and has been shown to be non toxic and the mushroom from which it is derived has been consumed as a food regularly for many years with no adverse safety effects.

The beneficial effects reported for AHCC are immunity activation, anti-cancer activity, reduction of side effects of chemotherapy, defense against infection, and an anti-diabetic activity. AHCC not only provides survival benefits to non-operable cancer patients and chronic progressive cancer patients but also helps these patients maintain their normal body functions even if they are not showing any clinical improvement. AHCC helps cancer patients live a normal life psychologically and socially in this way providing important quality of life (QOL).

Within 2 weeks after starting the consumption of AHCC, patients should experience QOL improvements i.e improvement of appetite, normalization of sleep and reduced hair loss .

In experimental studies AHCC has been shown to exhibit the following properties:

• Immunostimulative action
• Anti-cancer activity
• Reduction in side effects of chemotherapy
• Defense against infection

Beneficial effects of AHCC have also been reported for other conditions including:

• Liver disease
• Diabetes
• Inflammation
• High blood pressure
• Hyperlipidaemia

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2. Ritz BW. Supplementation with active hexose correlated compound increases survival following infectious challenge in mice. Nutr Rev. 2008 Sep;66(9):526-31.
3. Nogusa S; Gerbino J; Ritz BW. Low-dose supplementation with active hexose correlated compound improves the immune response to acute influenza infection in C57BL/6 mice. Nutr Res. 2009 Feb;29(2):139-43.
4. Matsui Y; Uhara J; Satoi S; Kaibori M; Yamada H; Kitade H; Imamura A; Takai S; Kawaguchi Y; Kwon AH; Kamiyama Y. Improved prognosis of postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma patients when treated with functional foods: a prospective cohort study. J Hepatol. 2002 Jul;37(1):78-86.
5. Shigama K; Nakaya A; Wakame K; Nishioka H; Fujii H. Alleviating effect of active hexose correlated compound (AHCC) for anticancer drug-induced side effects in non-tumor-bearing mice. J Exp Ther Oncol. 2009;8(1):43-51.