The anti‐tumor effect of Ganoderma Lucidum is mediated by cytokines released from activated macrophages and T lymphocytes

Abstract

The present study was to ascertain the immunomodulating and anti-tumor effects of Ganoderma (G.) lucidum. Polysaccharides (PS) from fresh fruiting bodies of G. lucidum (PS-G) were isolated and used to potentiate cytokine production by human monocytes-macrophages and T lymphocytes. Our results had shown that the levels of interleukin (IL)-1b, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, and IL-6 in macrophage cultures treated with PS-G (100 mg/ml) were 5.1-, 9.8-and 29-fold higher, respectively, than those of untreated controls. In addition, the release of interferon (IFN)-g from T lymphocytes was also greatly promoted in the presence of PS-G (25-100 mg/ml). Furthermore, these cytokine-containing mononuclear cell-conditioned media (PSG-MNC-CM) were found to suppress the proliferation and clonogenicity of both the HL-60 and the U937 leukemic cell lines. DNA labeling and gel electrophoresis showed that treatment with PSG-MNC-CM markedly induced leukemic-cell apoptosis. Flow-cytometric analysis revealed that few (2.3 6 0.8%) apoptotic cells were seen in the control cultures, while PSG-MNC-CM treatment resulted in a significant increase in the apoptotic population both in the HL-60 (38.3 6 4.5%) and in the U937 (44.5 6 3.8%) cells. In addition, 40 to 45% of the treated leukemic cells were triggered to differentiate into mature monocytic cells expressing CD14 and CD68 surface antigens. However, PS-G alone had no such effects even at a higher dose of 400 mg/ml. Since untreated macrophages and T lymphocytes produced little or no cytokine, and normal MNC-CM did not suppress leukemic cell growth, it was suggestive that the anti-tumor activity of PSG-MNC-CM was derived from the elevated levels of cytokines. Antibody-neutralization studies further revealed that the anti-tumor cytokines in the PSG-MNC-CM were mainly of TNF-a and IFN-g, and these 2 cytokines acted synergistically on the inhibition of leukemic-cell growth. Int. J. Cancer 70:699-705, 1997.

Ganoderma lucidum extract induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in MCF‐7 human breast cancer cell

“…Many investigators have suggested that the anti-tumor effect of Ganoderma lucidum might be mediated by host responses. 10 -12 Wang et al 10 reported that the anti-tumor activities of water extract-polysaccharides of Ganoderma lucidum (PS-G) was mediated by cytokines released from activated macrophages and T lymphocytes, especially TNF-␣ and IFN-␥. These cytokines in turn induced apoptosis and differentiation in the treated leukemic cells.…”

Chemical features of Ganoderma polysaccharides with antioxidant, antitumor and antimicrobial activities

“…The above mentioned genus has been widely studied regarding its bioactive properties (Paterson, 2006;Nie et al, 2013), including antibacterial, antioxidant, antitumor and other effects (Wang et al, 1997;Wasser, 2002;Heleno et al, 2012;Li et al, 2012;Heleno et al, 2013;Popović et al, 2013;Zhonghui et al, 2013). The beneficial health properties of Ganoderma species are attributed to a wide variety of bioactive components, such as polysaccharides, triterpenes, sterols, lectins and other proteins Ferreira et al, 2010).…”

“…The antitumor properties of water-soluble polysaccharide-enriched fractions from the fruiting bodies of G. lucidum seem to be related to the production stimulation of interleukin (IL)-1β, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, IL-6 from human monocytemacrophages, and interferon (IFN)-γ from T lymphocytes (Wang et al, 1997).…”

“…These studies were carried out in the human promyelocytic leukaemia (HL-60), and human lymphoma cell lines (U937) (Wang et al, 1997). G. lucidum polysaccharide (GL-B), consisting of seven fractions of polysaccharides isolated from this species, was tested both in vitro (HL-60, and sarcoma-180 cells), and in vivo (sarcoma-180 cells injected sub-dermally into the axillary fossa of the right foreleg of BALB/c mice), and this established that its antitumor potential is also related to TNF-α and IFN-γ .…”

“…Thus, Ganoderma has been considered a bioactive therapeutic fungus (Paterson, 2006) and its antitumor potential has been explored (Wang et al, 1997;Yuen and Gohel, 2005).…”