Trial reportEuropean journal of applied physiology2011
Pleuran (β-glucan from Pleurotus ostreatus) supplementation, cellular immune response and respiratory tract infections in athletes.
Trial report in European journal of applied physiology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03988257 (The Effectiveness of Pleuran in Treatment of Acute Gastroenteritis in Children- a Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Trial), which is not on this map. Cited by 43 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
The Effectiveness of Pleuran in Treatment of Acute Gastroenteritis in Children- a Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Double-blind Trial
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 118 citations in OpenAlex.
- Select Dietary Supplement Ingredients for Preserving and Protecting the Immune System in Healthy Individuals: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Novel Chewable Pleuran-Based Supplement Decreases Respiratory Tract Infections in Children: A Randomised Controlled Trial.Advances in therapy · 2025Trial
- A randomised trial of pleuran in paediatric acute gastroenteritis.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Comparison of the Effects of Prebiotics and Synbiotics Supplementation on the Immune Function of Male University Football Players.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- β -Glucan Improves Protective Qi Status in Adults with Protective Qi Deficiency-A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, and Double-Blinded Trial.Chinese journal of integrative medicine · 2022Trial
- Effect of aNutrients · 2019Trial
- Effect of Immune-Enhancing Enteral Nutrition Enriched with or without Beta-Glucan on Immunomodulation in Critically Ill Patients.Nutrients · 2016Trial
- Fungal β-1,3-glucans: Cell Wall Constituents That Promote Gut Health Through Innate Immune Modulation.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Fungal Polysaccharides as Modulators of Molecular Pathways in Liver Health.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Beyond biologics: fungal polysaccharides as dual-function materials for nanomedicine.Nanomedicine (London, England) · 2025Review
- Effects of fungal supplementation on endurance, immune function, and hematological profiles in adult athletes: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Review
- Nutraceuticals as Modulators of Immune Function: A Review of Potential Therapeutic Effects.Preventive nutrition and food science · 2023Review
- Transglycosylation of Stevioside by a Commercial β-Glucanase with Fungal Extracted β-Glucans as Donors.Waste and biomass valorization · 2023Article
- The Health and Clinical Benefits of Medicinal Fungi.Advances in biochemical engineering/biotechnology · 2023Article
- Biochemical Evaluation ofMicroorganisms · 2022Article
- Beta-(1,3/1,6)-D-glucan fromFrontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
- Ingestion, Immunity, and Infection: Nutrition and Viral Respiratory Tract Infections.Frontiers in immunology · 2022Review
- Antioxidant Activity of Mushroom Extracts/Polysaccharides-Their Antiviral Properties and Plausible AntiCOVID-19 Properties.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Beta-Glucans from Fungi: Biological and Health-Promoting Potential in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era.Nutrients · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Prolonged and exhausting physical activity causes numerous changes in immunity and sometimes transient increases the risk of upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs). Nutritional supplements as countermeasures to exercise-induced changes have increasingly been studied in the last decade. One of the most promising nutritional supplements is β-glucan, a well-known immunomodulator with positive effects on the function of immunocompetent cells. In this double blind, placebo-controlled study, we investigated the effect of pleuran, an insoluble β-(1,3/1,6) glucan from mushroom Pleurotus ostreatus, on selected cellular immune responses and incidence of URTI symptoms in athletes. Fifty athletes were randomized to pleuran or placebo group, taking pleuran (commercial name Imunoglukan(®)) or placebo supplements during 3 months. Venous whole blood was collected before and after 3 months of supplementation and additionally 3 months after supplementation period was completed. Incidence of URTI symptoms together with characterization of changes in phagocytosis and natural killer (NK) cell count was monitored during the study. We found that pleuran significantly reduced the incidence of URTI symptoms and increased the number of circulating NK cells. In addition, the phagocytosis process remained stable in pleuran group during the study in contrast to placebo group where significant reduction of phagocytosis was observed. These findings indicate that pleuran may serve as an effective nutritional supplement for athletes under heavy physical training. Additional research is needed to determine the mechanisms of pleuran function.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.