Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) Research

Below are abstracts of relevant research articles. PubMed contains 376 such articles. If you wish to read the article in its entirety, contact us and we can supply a full copy for a nominal charge.

Chem Pharm Bull (Tokyo) 2000 Jul;48(7):1026-33

Triterpenes from the spores of Ganoderma lucidum and their cytotoxicity against meth-A and LLC tumor cells.

Min BS, Gao JJ, Nakamura N, Hattori M

Institute of Natural Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.

[Medline record in process] Six new highly oxygenated lanostane-type triterpenes, called ganoderic acid gamma

(1), ganoderic acid delta
(2), ganoderic acid epsilon
(3), ganoderic acid zeta
(4), ganoderic acid eta
(5) and ganoderic acid theta
(6), were isolated from the spores of Ganoderma lucidum, together with known ganolucidic acid D
(7) and ganoderic acid C2
(8). Their structures of the new triterpenes were determined as (23S)-7beta,15alpha,23-trihydroxy-3, 11-dioxolanosta-8,24(E)-diene-26-oic acid
(1), (23S)-7alpha,15alpha23-trihydroxy-3,11-dioxolanosta-8,24(E)-diene-26-oic acid
(2), (23S)-3beta3,7beta, 23-trihydroxy-11,15-dioxolanosta-8,24(E)-diene-26-oic acid
(3), (23S)-3beta,23-dihydroxy-7,11,15-trioxolanosta-8, 24(E)-diene-26-oic acid
(4), (23S)-3beta,7beta,12beta,23-tetrahydroxy-11,15-dioxolanosta-8,24(E)-diene-26-oic acid
(5) and (23S)-3beta,12beta23-trihydroxy-7,11,15-trioxolanosta-8,24(E)-diene-26-oic acid
(6), respectively, by chemical and spectroscopic means, which included the determination of a chiral center in the side chain by a modification of Mosher’s method. The cytotoxicity of the compounds isolated from the Ganoderma spores was carried out in vitro against Meth-A and LLC tumor cell lines. PMID: 10923835, UI: 20378357

Enzyme Microb Technol 2000 Aug 1;27(3-5):295-301
Effect of fatty acids on the mycelial growth and polysaccharide formation by Ganoderma lucidum in shake flask cultures.
Yang F, Ke Y, Kuo S
Department of Chemical Engineering, Tunghai University, 40704, Taichung, Taiwan, People’s Republic of China[Record supplied by publisher] Fatty acids were added into the media to investigate their effects on the mycelial growth and polysaccharide formation by Ganoderma lucidum. The experiments were carried out in freely suspended cultures or immobilized cultures using shake flasks. The results indicate that the extent of stimulation or inhibition were associated with the types and levels of fatty acids. Oleic acid at the level of 0.15 g/100 ml led to a significant increase in cell concentration from 0.20 to 0.46 g/100 ml in a suspended culture and palmitic acid was of great advantage to polysaccharide production. In contrast, linoleic acid (0.1 g/100 ml) drastically suppressed both mycelial growth and polysaccharide formation. In immobilized cultures with fatty acids, the stimulation of mycelial growth remained the same level, but the enhancement of polysaccharide production became less. In addition, the growth of G. lucidum in the pattern of immobilization might be beneficial to the production of mycelia and polysaccharide. PMID: 10899556

J Investig Allergol Clin Immunol 2000 Mar-Apr;10(2):83-9
Ganoderma lucidum: partial characterization of spore and whole body antigenic extracts.
Gupta SK, Pereira BM, Singh AB
Centre for Biochemical Technology, Delhi, India.[Medline record in process] This study focused on the characterization of antigenic/ allergenic profiles of Ganoderma lucidum spore and whole body preparations. Whole body G. lucidum contained higher protein to carbohydrate ratio whereas it was less than one for spore extract. Isoelectric focusing showed 12 and 11 bands in acidic pH range (pI 3.5-6.5) for G. lucidum spore and whole body, respectively, while SDS-PAGE showed 8 and 23 fractions, respectively, in molecular weight range of 12.8-75.0 kD. The prominent protein fractions of G. lucidum spores were 19.4, 22.8 and 23.8 kD, whereas for G. lucidum whole body, 13.2, 14.7, 18. 7, 21.5 and 23.5 constituted major fractions. Immunoblotting with 41 individual serum samples revealed 21.8, 23.8, 19.4 and 20.0 kD to be major allergenic protein fractions of G. lucidum spores. The same using G. lucidum whole body and 26 individual serum samples identified several fractions of 17.0, 17.5, 18.5, 22.0, 23.8, 42.0, 44.0, 56.0 and 69.0 kD as major allergens. The compiled data suggest that there are common as well as specific allergenic components in two G. lucidum extracts studied. PMID: 10879995, UI: 20336342

Z Naturforsch [C] 2000 Mar-Apr;55(3-4):180-8
Comparison of headspace techniques for sampling volatile natural products in a dynamic system.
Faldt J, Eriksson M, Valterova I, Borg-Karlson AK
Department of Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Ecological Chemistry, KTH, Stockholm, Sweden. [email protected][Medline record in process] Commonly used dynamic sorption techniques for collecting biologically active volatile compounds have been compared. Solid phase microextraction (SPME) using two types of fibers (polydimethylsiloxane, PDMS, 100 microm, and carbowax/divinylbenzene, CW/DVB, 65 microm) was compared to purge and trap methods (Porapak Q, Tenax TA and charcoal) and a technique based on absorption in methanol in a cooling bath. Sampling was done in a stream of purified air (20 ml/min) in a closed and temperature-regulated (27 degrees C) glass tube, passing over a capillary tube containing a hexane solution of tridecane, heptadecane, 1-octen-3-ol, 1-hexadecanol, ethyl tetradecanoate, alpha-pinene, linalool, terpinen-4-ol, cis-verbenol, verbenone, beta-caryophyllene, E,E-farnesol, and geranylgeraniol. With all of the methods, the sampling was performed for a period of 30 min before extraction and analysis was done on a GC-FID system. In general, SPME gave a higher response for all compounds except for alpha-pinene, which was only extracted by the CW/DVB fiber. Purge and trap methods and methanol absorption gave the same response for all substances extracted. None of the methods extracted hexadecanol and geranylgeraniol under the conditions used. However, the SPME equipped with the PDMS coating extracted heptadecane, E,E-farnesol and ethyl tetradecanoate. Our results show that SPME, when selecting the fibers to fit the polarity and volatility of the compounds, is an outstanding extraction method compared to purge and trap and methanol absorption, especially for a qualitative analysis. The best conditions for storing fibers exposed to compounds of high volatility were at low temperatures (6 degrees C) in sealed vials, while the worst way was to leave the exposed fiber unprotected at room temperature (22 degrees C). The dynamic sampling system was effectively tested on a fruiting body of a polypore fungus (Ganoderma applanatum) emitting 1-octen-3-ol, and again SPME showed to be the most sensitive technique. PMID: 10817206, UI: 20274907

Acta Medica (Hradec Kralove) 1999;42(4):123-5
Anti-inflammatory triterpenoids from mysterious mushroom Ganoderma lucidum and their potential possibility in modern medicine.
Patocka J
Department of Toxicology, Purkyne Military Medical Academy, Hradec Kralove. [email protected]
Ganoderma lucidum, a mushroom long used in the East for a broad range of disorders, contains numerous pharmacologically active compounds. Very important of them are highly oxygenated anti-inflammatory triterpenes, which are the aim of this mini-review. PMID: 10812678, UI: 20272558

J Nat Prod 2000 Apr;63(4):514-6
New lanostanoids of Ganoderma tsugae.
Su HJ, Fann YF, Chung MI, Won SJ, Lin CN
School of Pharmacy, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 807, Republic of China.
Three new compounds, (24R, S)-3alpha-acetoxy-24-hydroxy-5alpha-lanosta-8,25-di en-21-oic acid, named tsugaric acid C (1); 3alpha-acetoxy-5alpha-lanosta-8, 24-diene-21-O-beta-D-xyloside, named tsugarioside B (2); and 3alpha-acetoxy-(Z)-24-methyl-5alpha-lanosta-8,23,25-tr ien-21-oic acid ester beta-D-xyloside, named tsugarioside C (3), and a mixture of two known steroids were isolated from the fruit bodies of Ganoderma tsugae. The structures of 1-3 were determined by spectral and chemical methods. The cytotoxic activity of the lanostanoid constituents of this fungus was evaluated against several different cancer cell lines. PMID: 10785428, UI: 20249189

J Nat Prod 2000 Mar;63(3):416-8
Ganomycins A and B, new antimicrobial farnesyl hydroquinones from the basidiomycete Ganoderma pfeifferi.
Mothana RA, Jansen R, Julich WD, Lindequist U
Institute of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Biology, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, D-17487 Greifswald, Germany.
Two new farnesyl hydroquinones named ganomycin A (1) and ganomycin B (2) were isolated from Ganoderma pfeifferi, and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. Both carboxylic acids exhibit antimicrobial activity against several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. PMID: 10757736, UI: 20221489

Food Chem Toxicol 2000 Feb-Mar;38(2-3):173
Nutritional value of ganoderma extract and assessment of its genotoxicity and antigenotoxicity using comet assays of mouse lymphocytes.
Chiu SW, Wang ZM, Leung TM, Moore D
Department of Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N. T., Hong Kong, China.
The nutritive composition of a hot aqueous extract of wild Ganoderma fruit bodies was determined. This extract was assessed for cytotoxicity and in vivo genotoxicity by both acute and subchronic exposure of mice (given by mouth at a dose equivalent to extract of 220g fresh Ganoderma fruit body/kg body weight). To test any alleged protection against mutagens by Ganoderma treatments, the mice were injected intraperitoneally with the radiomimetic mutagen ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), and after 24hr of treatment their lymphocytes were examined using the comet assay. Ganoderma extract consisted of Folin-positive material (68.9% of dry weight), but protein comprised only 7.3% of dry weight. Glucose accounted for 11. 1% and metals 10.2% of dry weight (K, Mg and Ca being the major components with Ge (often touted as being of value in sales literature for Ganoderma preparations) having the fifth highest metal concentration at 489 microg/g). In comparison to rodent chow, Ganoderma extract was a modest dietary supplement. No evidence was found for genotoxic chromosomal breakage nor cytotoxic effects by Ganoderma extract in the mouse, nor did it protect against the effects of ethyl methanesulfonate. We found no support in this study for the extract having any value in protecting against the test mutagen. PMID: 10717357, UI: 20183650

J Pharm Biomed Anal 1999 Nov;21(2):407-13
Discrimination of herbal medicines according to geographical origin with near infrared reflectance spectroscopy and pattern recognition techniques.
Woo YA, Kim HJ, Cho JH, Chung H
College of Pharmacy, Dongduk Women’s University, Seoul, South Korea.
Herbal medicines have an important role in clinical therapy in Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, and China. The objective of this study is to develop a nondestructive and accurate analytical method to discriminate herbal medicines according to geographical origin. Even though they are the same species, their qualities are different by growing conditions such as climate and soil. Near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy and a pattern recognition technique were applied for discrimination of herbal medicines according to geographical origin (Korea and China). Astragali Radix (AR), Ganoderma, and Smilacis Rhizoma (SR) were examined. It is shown that the representative NIR reflectance spectra in each group are different according to geographical origin after second derivatization to enhance spectral features. Also, the NIR reflectance spectra of Chinese and Korean samples were differentiated using principal component (PC) score plots. To establish the discrimination rule, Mahalanobis distance and discriminant analysis with PLS2 were utilized. PMID: 10703997, UI: 20166763

Wei Sheng Yen Chiu 1998 Jul;27(4):283-4 [Study on certified reference material of germanium in Ganoderma lucidum]. [Article in Chinese] Lu L, Qian Y, Hu Z, Ye Y
Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, Hangzhou, China.
Analytical reference material of Ge in Ganoderma lucidum is designed and prepared for accurete analysis, monitoration and evaluation in trades of farming, forestry, medicine and food hygiene for Ge. It is used in technical training, technical assessing, monitoring, data arbitrating and analytic method verifing for professional supervisors. This reference material has been certified by graphitic oven atomic absorption spectrometry, hydride spectrophotometry, polarography, chemical separation spectrophotometry, atomic fluorescence method and x-ray fluorescence method. According to Grubb’s law to judge the data of each group, it is confirmed that all of seven groups certified crude data are normal distribution by checking normality D. The arithmatic mean value of all data is 0.38 microgram/g. Standard deviation is 0.08 microgram/g. PMID: 10682605, UI: 20147186

Ann N Y Acad Sci 1999;889:157-92
Update from Asia. Asian studies on cancer chemoprevention.
Yun TK
Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, Korea Cancer Center Hospital, Seoul, Korea. [email protected]
In Asia, nontoxic dietary products are considered desirable primary prevention vehicles for conquering cancer. As early as 1978, investigators in Korea carried out extensive long-term anticarcinogenicity experiments using the mouse lung tumor model and observed an anticarcinogenic effect of Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer extract in 1980. The results showed that natural products can provide hope for human cancer prevention. A newly established nine-week medium-term model using mouse lung tumors (Yun’s model) could confirm the anticarcinogenicity of ginseng that varies according to its type and age. Subsequently, the ginseng was shown by epidemiological studies to be a nonorgan-specific cancer preventive agent associated with a dose-response relationship. The anticarcinogenic effects of vegetarian foods common at every dining table in Korea and some synthetics were also studied using Yun’s nine-week model. In brief, ascorbic acid, soybean lecithin, capsaicin, biochanin A, Ganoderma lucidum, caffeine, and a novel synthetic 2-(allylthio)pyrazine decrease the incidence of mouse lung tumors, whereas fresh ginseng (4 years old), carrot, spinach, Sesamum indicum, beta-carotene, and 13-cis retinoic acid do not. This result regarding beta-carotene is consistent with the ineffective findings of the ATBC trial, the CARET trial, and the Physicians’ Health Study. In 1983, a cancer chemoprevention study group was first established in Japan. Subsequently, (-)-epigallocatechin gallate, cryptoporic acid E, and sarcophytol A from natural products, and synthetic acyclic retinoid and canventol were shown to be anticarcinogenic or chemopreventive in human subjects. Despite the frequent consumption of tea wordwide as a beverage and current experimental evidence of anticarcinogenesis, including controversial results of epidemiological studies, more systematic clinical trials for confirmation of preventive activity of tea against cancer are needed. Placebo-controlled intervention trials of dietary fiber are under study in Japan. In the past decade, new triterpenoids were isolated from various natural sources, and its biological activities were investigated in Asia. In the late 1970s a comprehensive chemoprevention program was established at the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Since then, many retinoid compounds have been synthesized and screened in the search for chemopreventive cancer agents. The National Cancer Institute (USA) and China are jointly engaged in the two-nutrition intervention in Linxian, China. The results of joint study of the general population and of dysplasia in China should stimulate further research to clarify the potential benefits of micronutrient supplements. We need to clarify if there is a connection between the lower rates of cancer mortality in Korea and the frequent consumption of anticarcinogenic vegetables or traditional foods, including ginseng and Ganoderma lucidum. The constituents of the nontoxic stable dietary products promise to be the future hope for conquering cancers in the coming years.

Publication Types:
Review
Review, tutorial
PMID: 10668493, UI: 20133672

J Ethnopharmacol 1999 Dec 15;68(1-3):175-81
Antiherpetic activities of various protein bound polysaccharides isolated from Ganoderma lucidum.
Eo SK, Kim YS, Lee CK, Han SS
College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea.
To investigate antiherpetic substances from Ganoderma lucidum, various protein bound polysaccharides, GLhw, GLhw-01, GLhw-02, GLhw-03, were isolated by activity-guided isolation from water soluble substances of the carpophores. These substances were examined for their antiviral activities against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) by plaque reduction assay in vitro. Among them, the acidic protein bound polysaccharide, GLhw-02 of a brownish substance, exhibited the most potent antherpetic activity with 50% effective concentrations (EC50) of 300 approximately 520 microg/ml in Vero and HEp-2 cells, and its selectivity indices (SI) were more than 20. GLhw-02 was identified to consist mainly of polysaccharide (approximately 40.6%) and protein (approximately 7.80%) by anthrone test and Lowry-Folin test, and showed the usual molar ratio (C:H:O = 1:2:1) of carbohydrates by elemental analysis. These results suggest that GLhw-02 possesses the possibility of being developed from a new antiherpetic agent. PMID: 10624876, UI: 20088214

J Ethnopharmacol 1999 Dec 15;68(1-3):129-36
Antiviral activities of various water and methanol soluble substances isolated from Ganoderma lucidum.
Eo SK, Kim YS, Lee CK, Han SS
College of Pharmacy, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea.
In order to find antiviral substances from basidiomycetes, two water soluble substances, GLhw and GLlw, and eight methanol soluble substances, GLMe-1-8, were prepared from carpophores of Ganoderma lucidum. These substances were examined for their activities against five strains of pathogenic viruses such as herpes simplex virus types 1 (HSV-1) and 2 (HSV-2), influenza A virus (Flu A) and vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) Indiana and New Jersey strains in vitro. Antiviral activities were evaluated by the cytopathic effect (CPE) inhibition assay and plaque reduction assay. Five substances, GLhw, GLMe-1, -2, -4 and -7 significantly inhibited the cytopathic effects of HSV and VSV. In the plaque reduction assay, GLhw inhibited plaque formation of HSV-2 with 50% effective concentrations (EC50) of 590 and 580 microg/ml in Vero and HEp-2 cells, and its selectivity indices (SI) were 13.32 and 16.26. GLMe-4 did not exhibit cytotoxicity up to 1000 microg/ml, while it exhibited potent antiviral activity on the VSV New Jersey strain with an SI of more than 5.43. These results indicate the possibility of development of antiviral agents from basidiomycetous fungi. PMID: 10624872, UI: 20088210

Appl Environ Microbiol 1999 Dec;65(12):5307-13
Lignin-modifying enzymes of the white rot basidiomycete Ganoderma lucidum.
D’Souza TM, Merritt CS, Reddy CA
Department of Microbiology and NSF Center for Microbial Ecology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824-1101, USA.
Ganoderma lucidum, a white rot basidiomycete widely distributed worldwide, was studied for the production of the lignin-modifying enzymes laccase, manganese-dependent peroxidase (MnP), and lignin peroxidase (LiP). Laccase levels observed in high-nitrogen (HN; 24 mM N) shaken cultures were much greater than those seen in low-nitrogen (2.4 mM N), malt extract, or wood-grown cultures and those reported for most other white rot fungi to date. Laccase production was readily seen in cultures grown with pine or poplar (100-mesh-size ground wood) as the sole carbon and energy source. Cultures containing both pine and poplar showed 5- to 10-fold-higher levels of laccase than cultures containing pine or poplar alone. Since syringyl units are structural components important in poplar lignin and other hardwoods but much less so in pine lignin and other softwoods, pine cultures were supplemented with syringic acid, and this resulted in laccase levels comparable to those seen in pine-plus-poplar cultures. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of concentrated extracellular culture fluid from HN cultures showed two laccase activity bands (M(r) of 40,000 and 66, 000), whereas isoelectric focusing revealed five major laccase activity bands with estimated pIs of 3.0, 4.25, 4.5, 4.8, and 5.1. Low levels of MnP activity ( approximately 100 U/liter) were detected in poplar-grown cultures but not in cultures grown with pine, with pine plus syringic acid, or in HN medium. No LiP activity was seen in any of the media tested; however, probing the genomic DNA with the LiP cDNA (CLG4) from the white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium showed distinct hybridization bands suggesting the presence of lip-like sequences in G. lucidum. PMID: 10583981, UI: 20049962

Arch Pharm Res 1999 Oct;22(5):515-9
Characterization of an alkali-extracted peptidoglycan from Korean Ganoderma lucidum.
Cheong J, Jung W, Park W
IlYang Central Research Institute, Yongin, Kyungki, Korea.
The biologically active peptidoglycan was purified from the alkali fraction of the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma lucidum and the composition of the peptidoglycan was investigated by conventional analyses. The alkali-extracted peptidoglycan showed differences in chemical compositions from the water-extracted. The alkali-extracted peptidoglycan contained 6.9% protein and 75.9% carbohydrates composed mainly of beta-glucose, mannose, and alpha-glucose. The molecular weight range of the peptidoglycan was determined as 2,000 kDa-17 kDa. The peptidoglycan is considered to be a hybrid molecule of polysaccharide chains covalently bound as a side chain to the polypeptide core. PMID: 10549581, UI: 20015774

Bioorg Med Chem 1999 Sep;7(9):2047-52
Lucidenic acid O and lactone, new terpene inhibitors of eukaryotic DNA polymerases from a basidiomycete, Ganoderma lucidum.
Mizushina Y, Takahashi N, Hanashima L, Koshino H, Esumi Y, Uzawa J, Sugawara F, Sakaguchi K
Department of Applied Biological Science, Science University of Tokyo, Chiba, Japan.
Terpenoids, 1, 2 and 3, which selectively inhibit eukaryotic DNA polymerase activities, were isolated from the fruiting body of a basidiomycete, Ganoderma lucidum, and their structures were determined by spectroscopic analyses. New terpenes, lucidenic acid O (1) and lucidenic lactone (2), prevented not only the activities of calf DNA polymerase alpha and rat DNA polymerase beta, but also these of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 reverse transcriptase. Cerevisterol (3), which was reported to be a cytotoxic steroid, inhibited only the activity of DNA polymerase alpha. Although these compounds did not influence the activities of prokaryotic DNA polymerases and other DNA metabolic enzymes such as T7 RNA polymerase and deoxyribonuclease I. PMID: 10530954, UI: 99458537

Phytother Res 1999 Sep;13(6):529-31
Triterpene antioxidants from ganoderma lucidum.
Zhu M, Chang Q, Wong LK, Chong FS, Li RC
Department of Pharmacy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China. [email protected]
Ganoderma lucidum was studied for its antioxidative activity by bioassay guided isolation in conjunction with in vitro tests. The powdered crude drug was treated with boiling water and the aqueous extract (Ex1) was further separated to obtain terpene and polysaccharide fractions. The two fractions and Ex1 were screened for their antioxidative effect against pyrogallol induced erythrocyte membrane oxidation and Fe (II)-ascorbic acid induced lipid peroxidation. All tested samples showed antioxidative activities in a dose dependent manner and the terpene fraction was found to possess the highest effect compared with the others. Chemical isolation of the terpene fraction resulted in the detection of ganoderic acids A, B, C and D, lucidenic acid B and ganodermanontriol as major ingredients. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. PMID: 10479768, UI: 99410720

Z Naturforsch [C] 1999 May-Jun;54(5-6):314-8
Molecular characterization and taxonomic affinities of species of the white rot fungus Ganoderma.
Sokol S, Kaldorf M, Bothe H
Uniwersytet Slaski, Katedra Botaniki, Systematycznej, Katowice, Poland. [email protected]
The systematic affinities of Ganoderma have largely been resolved in the extensive publications of Moncalvo and coworkers (Moncalvo et al., 1995a, b; Hseu et al., 1996). The present communication adds further sequences of the ITS1 region of Ganoderma isolates from Poland and corrects some of the classifications of Ganoderma species. The sequence data indicate that G. australe and G. adspersum are different species. Both morphological and molecular data are in accord with an interspecific separation of G. pfeifferi and G. resinaceum. The ITS1 region is particularly suited for the taxonomic segregation of Ganoderma by molecular methods. PMID: 10431384, UI: 99360053

Carcinogenesis 1999 Aug;20(8):1637-40
In vitro chemopreventive effects of plant polysaccharides (Aloe barbadensis miller, Lentinus edodes, Ganoderma lucidum and Coriolus versicolor).
Kim HS, Kacew S, Lee BM
Division of Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Sungkyunkwan University, Changan-ku, Chunchun-dong, Kyunggi-do, Suwon 440-746, Korea.
A plant polysaccharide, Aloe gel extract, was reported to have an inhibitory effect on benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P)-DNA adduct formation in vitro and in vivo. Hence, chemopreventive effects of plant polysaccharides [Aloe barbadensis Miller (APS), Lentinus edodes (LPS), Ganoderma lucidum (GPS) and Coriolus versicolor (CPS)] were compared using in vitro short-term screening methods associated with both initiation and promotion processes in carcinogenesis. In B[a]P-DNA adduct formation, APS (180 micrograms/ml) was the most effective in inhibition of B[a]P binding to DNA in mouse liver cells. Oxidative DNA damage (by 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine) was significantly decreased by APS (180 micrograms/ml) and CPS (180 micrograms/ml). In induction of glutathione S-transferase activity, GPS was found to be the most effective among plant polysaccharides. In screening anti-tumor promoting effects, APS (180 micrograms/ml) significantly inhibited phorbol myristic acetate (PMA)-induced ornithine decarboxylase activity in Balb/3T3 cells. In addition, APS significantly inhibited PMA-induced tyrosine kinase activity in human leukemic cells. APS and CPS significantly inhibited superoxide anion formation. These results suggest that some plant polysaccharides produced both anti-genotoxic and anti-tumor promoting activities in in vitro models and, therefore, might be considered as potential agents for cancer chemoprevention. PMID: 10426820, UI: 99355758