Chromatographic and electrophoretic methods for Lingzhi pharmacologically active components

Abstract

Lingzhi is the Chinese name given to the Ganoderma family of mushrooms, which was considered the most valuable medicine in ancient China and was believed to bring longevity, due to its mysterious power of healing the body and calming the mind. Today, Lingzhi is still widely revered as a valuable health supplement and herbal medicine worldwide, as studies (mostly conducted in China, Korea, Japan and the United States) into the medicinal and nutritional values of Lingzhi revealed that it does indeed contain certain bioactive ingredients (such as triterpenes and polysaccharides) that might be beneficial for the prevention and treatment of a variety of ailments, including important diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, hepatitis, cancers, and AIDS. As research into the biological activities of Lingzhi, as well as the quality assurance and quality control of Lingzhi products, require the isolation/purification of active ingredients from Lingzhi, followed by subsequent analytical and/or preparative separations, the present review summarizes the various chromatographic and electrophoretic methods (as well as sample pretreatment methods) typically employed to achieve such extraction/separation procedures.

Ganoderma lucidum (Fr.) P. Karst enhances activities of heart mitochondrial enzymes and respiratory chain complexes in the aged rat

“…Dai et al (1987) demonstrated the mitochondrial superoxide dismutase stimulating activity of Ganoderma. Recent reports also indicated the presence of vitamins C and E, as well as bcarotene and essential elements in various Ganoderma species (Huie and Di 2004). Pharmacological treatment using these antioxidant vitamins shown effectiveness in preventing oxidative stress and mitochondrial function during aging in individual cases (Ghosh et al 1996;Chinnery and Turnbull 2000;Marriage et al 2004;Navarro et al 2005).…”

Cell growth stimulating effect of Ganoderma lucidum spores and their potential application for Chinese hamster ovary K1 cell cultivation

“…These polysaccharides have been found able to stimulate the proliferations or enhance the activities of T lymphocytes [31], splenocytes [32], immunological effector cells (e.g., bone marrow cells, red blood cells, white blood cells, natural killer cells, T and B cells) [33]. The existence of selenium has also been identified in two types of polysaccharides isolated from Gls [40]. According to Gasser et al, this essential element acted as a mitogenic factor and thus was an indispensable supplement of serum-free media for CHO cell cultures [47].…”

“…The main active compounds of Gls extracted in boiled water are polysaccharides [40], researches on which have identified anticancer, immunostimulatory, immunomodulatory, and antioxidant activities [31][32][33]. To further explore the activity of Gls extract on CHO K1 cell growth in the context of serum inefficiency, a 6-well plate culture was carried out using the media #1, #2, #4, and #6 (shown in Table 1).…”

Application of marine biomaterials for nutraceuticals and functional foods

“…The sulfated polysaccharides/glycoproteins are found to act as antitumor agents (36). More than 200 polysaccharides/ glycoconjugates have been isolated from Ganoderma lucidum, which is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (37,38).…”