A Review on Management of Varius Disease by Traditional Chinese Medicine Ganoderma lucidum

Poonam Rahangdale*,A. M. Wankhade, J. V. Vyas, V. V. Paithnakar

Department of Pharmacology, Vidyabharti Collage of Pharmacy Amravati, Maharastra, 444602, India.

*Corresponding Author E-mail: poonamrahangdale1998@gamil.com

ABSTRACT:

Traditional Chinese medicine has used also known as "Lingzhi or Reishi," for more than 2000 years for its superior therapeutic activity, including its antitumor, antiallergenic, antiviral, hepatoprotective, antioxidant, immunomodulator, hypotensive, hypoglycaemic, anti-inflammatory, antithrombotic, antibacterial, and many other health benefits. G. lucidum has recently been under scientific study to see how many bioactive components it has that have an impact on human physiology. It has also been used to make powerful components for the pharmacology, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics sectors. For instance, mounting data suggests that this particular species of mushroom may be an effective antiviral drug for the treatment of a variety of viral infections, including enterovirus 71, dengue virus, and most recently coronavirus disease of 2019. (COVID-19). One of the oldest herbal remedies, Ganoderma lucidum grows in a wide range of places on deciduous trees (dead/dying trees). Adenosine, phenols, steroids, amino acids, lignin, vitamins, nucleotides, and nucleosides are among the 400 primary bioactive chemical components that it also includes. Polysaccharides, triterpenoids, polysaccharide-peptide complex, -glucans, lectins, and natural germanium (Ge) are all included. derived from Ganoderma fruiting bodies, mycelia, which also provide a wide range of useful medicinal qualities. However, we reviewed and described in this paper about pharmacological mechanisms for treating numerous disorders in relation to Ganoderma lucidum extract (polysaccharide and triterpenoid).

KEYWORDS: Fungus, Ganoderma lucidum, functional food, Traditional Chinese medicine, Therapeutic use.

INTRODUCTION:

Many different disorders have been treated with Ganoderma lucidum for thousands of years in Far Eastern traditional medicine¹. In China, Japan, and other Asian nations, the oriental fungus Ganoderma lucidum has a long history of use in enhancing health and longevity. It has a huge, black, glossy, and woody outer mushroom. The word lucidus, which is Latin for "shiny" or "bright, " alludes to the mushroom's surface's varnished appearance². Ganoderma lucidum is known as lingzhi in China whereas reishi or mannentake is the name of the Ganodermataceae family in Japan.

The Chinese word lingzhi, which means "herb of spiritual potency, " connotes both spiritual potency and the essence of immortality. It stands for success, happiness, divine power, and longevity. When it comes to grown mushrooms, Ganoderma lucidum is unique in that its pharmacological benefit is more important than its nutritional worth³.

Figure 1: Lingzhi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum)⁴

Therapeutic mushrooms, which are fungi that include the fruit-body of fungus, are referred to as health foods, nutritional supplements, and nutraceuticals. Traditional Chinese Medicine has employed remedial fungal mushrooms for a very long time as herbal treatments in East Asian countries, but their use has only just started to rise modestly in the West⁵.

The basidiocarp and mycelium contain bioactive substances that are extremely useful in medicine⁶.

Growing mushrooms is said to have started in Asia in the 12th century in China. Presently, 70% of the world's mushroom production is carried out in China. Ganoderma lucidum, one of the first therapeutic mushrooms, is a wood-decaying fungus or phytopathogenic fungus that develops from white rot of a variety of trees and has a long history of use. For more than 2000 years, China and Japan have used the most popular medicinal mushrooms, Ganoderma lucidum, to treat a variety of illnesses and prevent others⁷.

Classification of Ganoderma lucidum Kingdom:

Fungi Phylum: Basidiomycota

Class: Agraicomycetes

Order: Polyporales

Family: Ganodermatacae

Genus: Ganoderma

Species: Ganoderma lucidum⁸.

Common name:

United States: Reishi mushroom, Ganoderma.

China: Ling zhi, ling zhi cao, ling chih, hong ling zhi⁸.

Macroscopic and Microscopic Description of Ganoderma lucidum:

Macroscopy:

Fruiting Body: Typically huge and shelf-like, although those from the tropics and the Old World tend to be smaller with a cap and stalk. There are also transitional forms, including a rare antlered type.

Cap: Fan- or kidney-shaped, circular to semicircular, 2–20 cm wide, and 4–8 cm thick.

Pores: 2–20 mm long tubes that produce spores are arranged in a single layer

Stalk: 3–14 cm long, 0.5–4 cm thick, sometimes twisted, and maybe expanded at the base

Antler form: This shape normally arises

Microscopy:

The mushroom displays three different types of hyphae, including generative, binding, and skeletal hyphae, along with sporadic basidia and basidiospores⁹.

Cultivation, Global use, and Habitat:

For growth and cultivation, different Ganoderma species require various circumstances¹⁰. Additionally, different varieties are preferred in various geographical locations. For instance, black Ganoderma lucidum is preferred in South China while red G. lucidum is preferred in Japan. The subtropical parts of the Orient are home to numerous wild variants of Ganoderma lucidum, which flourish in hot, humid climates. Ganoderma lucidum has been artificially cultivated utilising substrate like grain, sawdust, wood logs, and cork residues¹¹.

Figure 2: Cultivation background of Ganoderma lucidum¹¹.

Major bioactive components:

About 90% of the weight of most mushrooms is water. The remaining 10% is made up of some vitamins and minerals, 10-40% protein, 2-8% fat, 3-28-32% carbohydrate, 3-32% fibre, and 8-10% ash. The majority of the minerals include potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, iron, zinc, and copper¹². The nonvolatile components of G. lucidum were examined, and it was discovered that the mushroom contains 1.8% ash, 26-28% carbohydrate, 3-5% crude fat, 59% crude fibre, and 7-8% crude protein. It also contains a wide range of bioactive molecules, including terpenoids, nitrogen compounds, enzyme steroids, phenols, nucleotides and their derivatives, glycoproteins, and polysaccharides. All of the necessary amino acids are present in mushroom proteins, which are particularly high in lysine and leucine. Numerous bioactive compounds, including terpenoids, steroids, phenols, nucleotides and their derivatives, glycoproteins, and polysaccharides are found in mushrooms¹³.

Figure 3: Chemical structure of lanosterol and three of the many triterpenes isolated from Ganoderma lucidum²

Table 1: The major bioactive compounds of Ganoderma lucidum and their biological effects¹⁴.

Bioactive compound	Biological effect
Triterpenoids	Antidiabetic, Antioxidant
Ganoderic acids T-Q and lucideinic acids A, D2, E2, and P	Anti-inflammatory
Ganoderic acids, ganodermin, ganoderic acid A, ganodermadiol, ganodermanondiol, lucidumol B, ganodermanontriol, ganoderic acid B, ganolucidic acid B	Antimicrobial
Triterpenoids, ganoderic acid, ganoderiol F, ganodermanontriol	Antiviral
Protein Ling Zhi-8 (LZ-8), lectin, ribosome-inactivating proteins, antimicrobial proteins, glycopeptides/glycoproteins, peptidoglycans/proteoglycans, ganodermin A, ribonucleases, proteinases, metalloproteases, laccases	Immunomodulator
Glycopeptides and peptidoglycan	Anticancer
Proteoglycans, proteins	Antidiabetic
Sterols; e.g., ergosterol	Provitamin D
Long-chain fatty acid	Antitumor
Polysaccharides (ganopoly)	Cardiovascular problems
olysaccharide–peptide complex	Antioxidans
Saponins	Anticancer and antioxidant

Figure 3: Postulated health benefits of lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum)¹⁵

THERAPEUTIC USES:

Treatment of several diseases with Ganoderma lucidum has had notable pharmacological or physiological outcomes.

1. Cancer:

In Ganoderma lucidum, the fruiting body, mycelia, or spores can all be used to extract a variety of chemical substances. There are various research from in vitro tests and animal and human in vivo investigations that demonstrate the chemo preventive and/or tumoricidal actions of many polysaccharides and triterpenes, the two major categories of components in the mushroom. Additionally, as reported by numerous studies, the antitumor activity of Ganoderma lucidum is accomplished by inducing programmed cell death. Furthermore, numerous human tumour cell lines have shown that the isolated compounds from Ganoderma lucidum act as autophagy modulators. In the same study, a methanolic extract of Ganoderma lucidum fruiting bodies (extraction at room temperature) inhibited the growth of a human gastric carcinoma cell line through a mechanism involving cellular autophagy¹⁶.

Figure 4: Anti-tumour activities of Ganoderma lucidum¹⁶.

2. Immunomodulation:

In vitro or in vivo animal studies using a variety of Ganoderma lucidum components as immunomodulating agents have shown to improve immunological effector, induce cytokines, increase the growth of T or B lymphocytes, splenic mononuclear cells, NK cells, or dendritic cells¹⁷.

3. Antioxidant and antiaging Activity:

By increasing the mobility of antioxidant enzymes, lowering radiation-induced oxidative DNA impairment, and reducing oxidative damage brought on by ROS, triterpenes or polysaccharide extract of Ganoderma lucidum displayed antioxidative effects in mouse splenocytes. Free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) accelerate ageing and many age-related diseases. After UVB therapy, Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (GLPs) can reduce ROS production in fibroblasts¹⁸.

4. Antidiabetic Activity:

It has been demonstrated that Ganoderma lucidum contains substances such polysaccharides, proteoglycans, proteins, and triterpenoids that have hypoglycemic effects. discovered that taking a Ganoderma lucidum spore powder (GLSP) caused a drop in blood sugar levels by encouraging glycogen synthesis and blocking gluconeogenesis¹⁹.

5. Hepatoprotection and Gastric injury:

The GLPs and Ganoderma triterpenoids (GTs) have hepatoprotective actions and can successfully heal liver damage by acting on the immune system. By reducing lipid peroxidation, increasing antioxidant enzyme activity, and reducing apoptosis and immune-inflammatory response, GLPs can prevent hepatocyte injury²⁰. Following acetic acid induction of gastric ulcers in rats, treatment with GL-PS fractions of 0.5 and 1.0 g/kg for 14 days markedly sped up the healing of the ulcers by 40% and 56%, respectively. In comparison to the control group, administration of 1.0 g/kg of the extract dramatically increased mucus and prostaglandin levels²¹.

6. Viral and Bacterial Infections:

Finding substances that precisely prevent bacterial and viral growth without having an adverse effect on healthy cells is the main objective of research into the treatment of viral and bacterial diseases. The authors of this study came to the conclusion that oral Lingzhi hot water extract ingestion had a negligible impact on preventing influenza. The components of Ganomycin I (farnesyl hydroquinone) and Ganomycin B, which were isolated from Vietnamese G. colossum, showed substantial antiviral activity by inhibiting HIV 1 protease with IC50 values of 7.5 or 1.0 g/ml. However, a component of Ganomycin B competitively and equally inhibited the enzyme active site from docking with the crystal structure of HIV 1 protease.

a) Ganoderma lucidum against Enterovirus 71 (EV71):

By interfering with the viral particle and restricting the viral adsorption to the host cells, ganoderic acid Y (GLTB), a triterpenoid molecule of Ganoderma lucidum, may be able to inhibit EV71 infection²¹.

b) Ganoderma lucidum against Dengue Virus (DENV):

Triterpenoids, one of the bioactive substances derived from Ganoderma lucidum, have been suggested and investigated as antiviral medicines against many viral infections, such as the human immunodeficiency virus²².

c) Ganoderma lucidum against the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2): Scutellarein and myricetin have been shown to effectively block nsP13, a SARS-CoV helicase protein, in vitro by changing its ATPase activity, suggesting that Ganoderma lucidum may represent a novel and potential source of bioactive natural chemicals with anticoronavirus activity²³.

7. Anti-inflammatory activity:

In animal models, a dose of 100 mg/kg B.W. of Ganoderma lucidum had anti-inflammatory effects comparable to those of 10 mg/kg B.W. of diclofenac, resulting in a 50% reduction in inflammation. However, treatment of Ganoderma lucidum triterpene concentrates fundamentally inhibits the release of inflammatory cytokines by macrophage cells, hence lowering the severity of inflammation²⁴.

8. Effect on cardiovascular function:

Ganoderma lucidum contained -tocopherol, which protected the mitochondria and decreased cardiac toxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction. the beneficial effects of ganopoly (a polysaccharide extract from Ganoderma lucidum) on people with coronary heart disease (CHD). The same authors demonstrated that a polysaccharide extract of G. lucidum led to lower serum cholesterol and blood pressure levels. normalise blood pressure or lower triglyceride levels. According to a clinical investigation, Ganoderma lucidum extract treatment was able to detect sustained blood pressure in individuals with early hypertension after two months. Additionally, studies showed that the Ganoderma lucidum extract (polysaccharide and peptide complexes) reduced blood cholesterol levels or stopped the progression of atherosclerosis in rats, and they also suggested a preventative effect on human endothelial cells in blood vessels.240 mg of six Ganoderma extract tablets were given daily for six months to the active group in a different clinical trial carried out in Japan with 53 hypertensive patients. The results revealed that Ganoderma lucidum extract-forming tablets had a significant effect on lowering blood pressure and hypertension while also showing no side effects related to Ganoderma treatment²⁵.

9. Antihyperlipidemic Activity:

Two distinct doses of Ganoderma lucidum were used in a research investigation, and the results showed that the glucans in Ganoderma lucidum have an impact on mice's cholesterol mechanisms. In mice given a high-cholesterol diet, the study showed that Ganoderma lucidum maintains total cholesterol level²⁶.

10. Antiobesity Activity:

In a recent study to assess the impact of Ganoderma lucidum on obesity, it was discovered that the mycelium extract of the mushroom decreased inflammation, insulin resistance, and body weight in mice fed a high-fat diet²⁷.