1. Immuno-potentiating effects of the antler-shaped fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum (Rokkaku-Reishi)
- Author
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Masao Ikeda, Naoki Kudo, Kanso Iwaki, Toshio Kunikata, Michihiro Kohguchi, Hikaru Watanabe, Masashi Kurimoto, Tatsuya Ishihara, Shigeharu Fukuda, and Takashi Shibuya
- Subjects
Lipopolysaccharides ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Reishi ,Time Factors ,Lipopolysaccharide ,Ganoderma ,Administration, Oral ,Stimulation ,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology ,Biochemistry ,Analytical Chemistry ,Microbiology ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,Interferon-gamma ,Mice ,In vivo ,Oral administration ,Internal medicine ,medicine ,Splenocyte ,Concanavalin A ,Animals ,Molecular Biology ,Glucans ,Cells, Cultured ,Mice, Inbred BALB C ,biology ,Plant Extracts ,Organic Chemistry ,Body Weight ,Immunity ,General Medicine ,Th1 Cells ,biology.organism_classification ,Interleukin-12 ,Antler ,Endocrinology ,chemistry ,biology.protein ,Female ,Spleen ,Biotechnology - Abstract
The immuno-potentiating effects of the antler-shaped fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum (Rokkaku-Reishi, RR), which has been used as a traditional supplement for human health, were investigated in mice. BALB/c mice were administered orally with RR for 3 days at a dose of 50 mg/kg or 500 mg/kg, and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production by splenocytes in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was examined on day 4. The oral administration of 500 mg/kg of RR resulted in a significant increase (p0.05) in IFN-gamma production. Stimulation of splenic adherent cells from these mice with LPS also resulted in a significant increase (p0.05) in interleukin-12 (IL-12) production compared with that from the control mice, suggesting that splenic macrophages were activated by RR administration. Furthermore, 500 mg/kg of RR administered for 14 days resulted in a significant increase (p0.05) in IFN-gamma production by splenocytes in response to both LPS and concanavalin A (Con A). These results suggest that not only splenic macrophages but also T cells were activated by the long-term treatment with RR in vivo. On the other hand, the production of interleukin-4 (IL-4), which is known as an allergic disease-related cytokine, was not affected by the long-term treatment with RR. Our results suggest that the oral administration of RR resulted in Th1-associated immuno-potentiating activities in vivo.
- Published
- 2004