Oxidative damage is an important factor in many disorders. Agaricus bisporus is the world’s most popular edible mushroom species. This study investigated how Agaricus bisporus can protect against bleomycin-induced pulmonary oxidative damage in rats. The study involved 42
male rats divided into 7 groups, 6 rats per each, for treatment over 3 weeks. The control
negative group (I) administered one ml saline, orally, once daily, while the intoxicated group
(II) administered bleomycin sulfate at a dosage of 0.54 mg /rat subcutaneously, twice weekly.
Test groups (III, IV) were given Agaricus bisporus extract (ABE) at low and high doses of 250
or 500 mg/kg, respectively, orally, daily with bleomycin. The standard group (V) received
vitamin C at a dose of 200 mg/kg, orally, daily with bleomycin, and the last two groups (VI,
VII) received only Agaricus bisporus extract at the same dose. By the end of the experiment,
blood samples and lung tissues were taken to evaluate antioxidant enzyme activity and gene
expression. Results showed that bleomycin reduced antioxidant enzymes (SOD, GPx, and
Catalase) activities and increased lipid peroxidation (MDA), accompanied by the
downregulation of the lung SOD, GPx and CAT enzymes' genes. While Agaricus bisporus
extract significantly countered these effects. Pathological findings supported the biochemical
and gene expression findings. The study concluded that Agaricus bisporus had notable
antioxidant properties and potentially treats oxidative stress-related diseases by enhancing antioxidant enzyme gene expression.