Hepatoprotective activity of Ganoderma lucidium (Curtis) P. Karst against cyclophosphamide-induced liver injury in mice

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the hepatoprotective activity of Ganoderma lucidium mushroom growing on the dead ironwood tree in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The total extract was orally administrated to experimental mice with hepatotoxicity induced by cyclophosphamide at the dose of 150 mg/kg (intraperitoneal injection). The liver malondialdehyde (MDA) content and the level of endogenous antioxidant glutathione (GSH) were measured. The results revealed that the total extract at the oral doses of 330, 230, and 120 mg/kg body weight which were equivalent to 5, 10, and 15 g/kg of dry material alleviated the increase of heaptic MDA content and restored the decrease of GSH level significantly which almost have the same potent as reference drug (silymarin). Biochemical observations were also supported with histopathological examination of liver. This finding demonstrated that G. lucidium in Vietnam could represent a promising approach for effective liver protective agents.

Keywords:

• Ganoderma lucidium
• hepatoprotection
• lipidperoxidation
• cyclophosphamide

Public Interest Statement

Medicinal mushrooms have a long history of ultilization in traditional therapy; and fungal metabolite are increasingly operated not to be considered as food, some of them could have biological properties including antioxidant, antitumor, and hepatoprotective activity. In Vietnam, Ganoderma lucidium has been found growing on the dead ironwood tree in the Central of Highlands. It is boardly presented to a commercial scale or harvested in nature and commonly purchased for its medicinal values. This study has provided the scientific evidence to validate the usage of this mushroom in folk medicine as the treatment of liver disorders and the prevention of hepatic injury.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interest

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank MSc Huynh Ngoc Linh for thought-provoking comments and discussions. Special thanks to Anatomical Department, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, for providing necessary facilities to carry out the histological examination.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.

Notes on contributors

Hong Ngoc Pham

Our research group is interested in exploring the bioactive and novel compounds from Vietnamese medicinal materials. Recent interest studies have concerned about hepatoprotective activity of some valuable mushrooms in Vietnam including Tramates versicolor, and Ganoderma colossum collected in nature. This study had focused on Lim Xanh (Ganoderma lucidium) as a potential source for elucidating the target hepatoprotective agents.