After feeding high-fat and high-sucrose diets mixed with Hericium erinaceus mycelium (HEM) or EA for 18 weeks, lowering hippocampal messenger RNA (mRNA) expressions of TNF-α and IL-1β, HEM and EA limit the progression of obesity-induced neurodegeneration [58]. This evidence concerns the gene TNF and obesity due to melanocortin 4 receptor deficiency.