Pachymic acid is a naturally occurring steroid that can be extracted from the parasitic fungus ''Wolfiporia extensa'' (synonym ''

Wolfiporia cocos ''Wolfiporia extensa'' (Peck) Ginns ('' syn.'' ''Poria cocos'' F.A.Wolf) is a fungus in the family Polyporaceae. It is a wood-decay fungus but has a subterranean growth habit. It is notable in the development of a large, long-lasting undergrou ...

''). The dried

sclerotia A sclerotium (; (), is a compact mass of hardened fungal mycelium containing food reserves. One role of sclerotia is to survive environmental extremes. In some higher fungi such as ergot, sclerotia become detached and remain dormant until favor ...

of the fungus is used as a

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of acti ...

, and pachymic acid is thought to be the principal bioactive component of it.

Effects

Pachymic acid is known to inhibit the

Epstein–Barr virus The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), formally called ''Human gammaherpesvirus 4'', is one of the nine known human herpesvirus types in the herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in humans. EBV is a double-stranded DNA virus. It is b ...

and to inhibit the snake venom phospholipase A2. It also has antitumor and anti-inflammatory properties.

References

{{biochem-stub Lanostanes carboxylic acids Acetate esters