As a traditional Chinese medicinal material included in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, reishi is an edible and medicinal fungus. The polysaccharide, triterpene, nucleoside, alkaloid, amino acid polypeptide, and trace elements, etc. in reishi are the material basis for its efficacy, wherein, triterpene and polysaccharide are the two major active ingredients of reishi. Chinese and overseas researchers have started to conduct in-depth research of chemical components of reishi since 1980s, and achieved some results; so far, they have successfully separated over 200 compounds, and conducted molecular structure elucidation. According to an article recently published on the Cell Death and Disease, a cell biology journal under Nature, the triterpene compound GL22, a new monomer extracted from reishi, can inhibit the xenograft tumor growth in mice and has no apparent side effects on healthy mice, proving the good safety and application prospects of reishi in the anti-tumor field.

Details of the study

In this experiment, Liu Hongwei research team at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences studied the Ganoderma leucocontextum. They separated and extracted a novel triterpene GL22 from Ganoderma leucocontextum. According to the study results, GL22 significantly inhibits the growth of the liver cancer cell line in vitro. According to the results of further study of its mechanism of action, GL22 significantly decreases the expression of fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs) and transport of intracellular free fatty acids, thus to cause the homeostasis of mitochondrial lipid cardiolipin to decline, to lead to the abnormal form and dysfunction of mitochondria, eventually triggering liver cancer cell death. It's worth noting that not only can GL22 inhibit the growth of liver cancer xenograft of nude mice, it can also cause no evident toxic and side effects to nude mice, and effectively reduce the effects on normal cell growth while "starving" tumor cells, showing great application prospects in the R&D field of drugs against liver cancer.

Structure Diagram of the Triterpene Compound GL22

Reishi also has extensive drug activity besides the anticancer actions, such as liver protection and detoxification, immunity enhancement, and cholesterol lowering.

1.    Liver protection

According to a study on protection of ganoderma triterpenes against liver fibrosis, the group treated with ganoderma triterpenes could significantly reduce the expression of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) in rat serum, and transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-β1) mRNA and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in liver tissues; the pathological section showed that ganoderma triterpenes could significantly reduce the degree of liver fibrosis in rats.

2.    Activity against HIV-1 and HIV-1 protease

The activity of ganoderma triterpenes against HIV is mainly achieved through inhibiting HIV adsorption or membrane fusion, HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, HIV-1 protease, and virus maturation, etc. Ganoderma triterpenes: ganoderic acid A and ganoderic acid B, etc. have the activity of significantly inhibiting HIV-1 protease, providing useful enlightenment for looking for and developing new anti-HIV drugs.

3.    Immunity enhancement

Research found that ganoderic acid could promote the increase of the interleukin-2 in lung cancer animal model, and enhance the immunocompetence of NK cells, showing the immunity enhancement. Extracts of ganoderma triterpenes can effectively promote spleen cells to produce interleukin-2, increase the generation of antibody cells, and promote the proliferation of immune cells.

4.    Lipid regulation and hyperglycemic actions

According to the research on reishi’s effects on blood lipid level of rats, ganoderma triterpenes can effectively lower serum cholesterol and low density lipoprotein, showing a clear lipid regulation action. And the ganoderic acid B and C separated from reishi can inhibit cholesterol synthesis and lower the blood sugar.

Traditional Chinese medicines are very popular in China and East Asia and play an increasingly important role in modern medical system. The natural compound GL22 separated from reishi inhibits tumor growth by changing lipid metabolism and triggering cell death, and shows great application prospects in the R&D field of drugs against liver cancer.

Reference：

Liu G, Wang K, Kuang S, et al.The natural compound GL22, isolated from Ganoderma mushrooms, suppresses tumor growth by altering lipid metabolism and triggering cell death.Cell Death Dis. 2018 Jun 7;9(6):689.

References: Liu G, Wang K, Kuang S, et al.The natural compound GL22, isolated from Ganoderma mushrooms, suppresses tumor growth by altering lipid metabolism and triggering cell death.Cell Death Dis. 2018 Jun 7;9(6):689.

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