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Lipid extract from completely sporoderm‐broken germinating Ganoderma sinensis spores elicits potent antitumor immune responses in human macrophages
Author(s) -
Zhang JingPing,
Zheng Limin,
Wang JiangHai,
Magnusson KarlEric,
Liu Xin
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/ptr.2707
Subject(s) - ganoderma , immune system , lipid a , macrophage , proinflammatory cytokine , cytotoxicity , biology , monocyte , microbiology and biotechnology , pharmacology , ganoderma lucidum , immunology , biochemistry , in vitro , inflammation , lipopolysaccharide , food science
Abstract Ganoderma sinensis has been used widely in Oriental countries for the prevention and treatment of various diseases including cancer. Previous studies have shown that the lipid extract from Ganoderma exhibits direct cytotoxicity against tumor cells. Here, it is reported that the lipid extract from germinating G. sinensis spores, at lower concentrations that have no direct tumoricidal activity, induce potent antitumor immune responses in human monocytes/macrophages. Upon stimulation with the lipid extract, monocytes/macrophages exhibited markedly increased production of proinflammatory cytokines and surface expression of costimulatory molecules. Conditioned medium from stimulated cells effectively suppressed the growth of tumor cells. Apparently, the lipid extract triggered macrophage activation via a mechanism different from that associated with LPS. Moreover, it was observed that the lipid extract could partially re‐establish the antitumor activity of the immunosuppressive tumor‐associated macrophages. These results indicated that in addition to its direct tumoricidal activity, the lipid extract from G. sinensis spores could exert antitumor activity by stimulating the activation of human monocytes/macrophages. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.