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International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms

ISSN for PRINT: 1521-9437

Institutional price:	$538.00
Issues per year:	4

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2007, Volume9

98 pages

DOI: 10.1615/IntJMedMushr.v9.i2

Issue price - $149.00

Effect of Ling Zhi or Reishi Mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (W. Curt.: Fr.) P. Karst. Mycelium on Benzo[a]prene-Induced Early Alterations of the Respiratory Epithelium in the Hypercholesterolaemic Rats

Yew Keong Choong
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti of Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Selangor, Malaysia

Mohamed Mustapha Noordin
Department of Pathology and Veterinary Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti of Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Selangor, Malaysia

Suhaila Mohamed
Department of Food Science and Management, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti of Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Selangor, Malaysia

Nor Aini B. Umar
Department of Pathology, Hospital Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, UKM, Bandar Tun Razak, 56000 Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Chow Chin Tong
Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Universiti of Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM, Selangor, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Many research studies indicate that fractions from the culture medium of Ganoderma lucidum mycelium (GM) have an antitumor activity through immunostimulation. There is a growing need for a short-term, cost-effective bioassay to assess the efficacy of potential antitumor agents from GM. Twenty-five Spraque-Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups according to their different feed. The positive control and negative control groups were given basal rat chew. The cholesterol (Chol) group was fed a 1% cholesterol diet, and the GM group was fed a 10% GM diet, whereby 1% Chol and 10% GM powder was added to the cholesterol plus G. lucidum mycelium (Chol+GM) group diet, respectively. All the rats were sacrificed 3 months after instillation with 13 ng of benzo[a]prene (B(a)P), except the negative control group. The lung sections were preserved for histological examination, and the glutathione S-transferase (GST) level was measured. Supplementation with GM had no significant effect on the increasing ratio of lung weight to body weight of the rats. The level of GST was significantly lower in both the Chol and positive control groups compared to the other groups. In the Chol+GM group, no significant lesions were observed in the lungs. No significant gross pathological changes were observed in the lungs of the negative control, GM, or Chol+GM groups. However, small whitish nodules were observed in the lungs of 3 rats from the positive control group and on both lungs in all rats from the Chol group. The study reported herein showed that GM is an effective treatment in inhibiting B(a)P-induced carcinogenesis in rats.