Pleuran (Oyster Mushroom Beta-Glucan) for Allergic Rhinitis

Pleuran has not been tested in people with allergic rhinitis. Its link to allergy rests on a randomised trial in children with recurrent respiratory infections, where it lowered blood eosinophils and kept total IgE stable, two laboratory markers of allergic inflammation, and on a 2025 trial in children with allergic asthma that found better asthma control in some age groups.

Other beta-glucans have small rhinitis trials, but the results depend on the exact product. Until a rhinitis trial is done, pleuran is an unproven add-on, and guideline treatments such as intranasal corticosteroids remain the first step.

Allergic rhinitis is driven by type 2 (Th2) inflammation: IgE antibodies, eosinophils and signalling proteins such as IL-4 and IL-5. Th1 signals such as IL-12 can damp this response, and branched beta-glucans have been tested as a way to shift the balance toward Th1.

In children with recurrent infections, pleuran reduced blood eosinophils and stabilised total IgE, more clearly in those with atopy. In 24 people with olive-pollen allergy, a different beta-1,3/1,6-glucan given for 12 weeks lowered IL-4, IL-5 and eosinophils in nasal fluid and raised IL-12.

Lower eosinophils in the blood are not the same as fewer sneezes, and none of the pleuran studies measured nasal symptoms. The beta-glucan form matters as well: in a Japanese cedar-pollen trial, a superfine dispersed beta-1,3-glucan eased symptoms while the same amount of glucan in ordinary form did nothing.

No dose has been tested for allergic rhinitis. The pleuran trials in other conditions used 10 mg per 5 kg of body weight a day in children and 100 mg a day in adults, usually with vitamin C, for 2 to 6 months.

If you try it, take it alongside your usual treatment for a whole pollen season and keep notes, so you can tell whether anything changed.

In a randomised, double-blind trial in children with recurrent respiratory infections, the researchers first found that atopy, a tendency to make allergic antibodies, was common and seemed to contribute to the children's illnesses. Pleuran then reduced peripheral blood eosinophilia and stabilised total IgE compared with placebo, more clearly in the atopic children. Nasal and eye symptoms were not reported.

In 230 children aged 7 to 17 with partly controlled allergic perennial asthma, 24 weeks of pleuran with vitamin C, added to usual treatment, improved asthma control in children under 12 and reduced respiratory infections in those 12 and over, compared with vitamin C alone. At 48 weeks, asthma control had improved in 84.7% of children on pleuran versus 67.0% on vitamin C. Nasal symptoms were not among the reported outcomes, and the main findings came from age subgroups.

Three small trials tested other beta-glucans. A beta-1,3/1,6-glucan lowered Th2 cytokines and eosinophils in nasal fluid in 24 people with olive-pollen allergy but did not report symptoms. A superfine beta-1,3-glucan eased cedar-pollen sneezing, runny nose, congestion and itchy eyes in a trial of 60 people, while ordinary beta-1,3-glucan did not. And a nasal spray of resveratrol plus carboxymethyl-beta-glucan reduced nasal symptoms and antihistamine use in 68 children with pollen allergy.

None of these used pleuran, and the spray is a different kind of product altogether. See our beta-glucans page for the wider picture.

Pleuran was well tolerated in trials in children and adults, with only mild side effects reported. We found no reported interactions with antihistamines or intranasal corticosteroids.

People with a mushroom allergy should avoid it, and anyone taking immunosuppressants should check with their specialist first.

We found no interaction studies for pleuran. It was taken alongside standard asthma treatment in a 2025 trial without related serious adverse events.