POLYSACCHARIDES
Polysaccharides are long chains of sugars. Specific polysaccharides are differentiated by the types of sugars incorporated into the chains, the types of linkage between the sugars, and the total size and organization of the chains. Extensive research in Japan has demonstrated that a specific linkage (Beta 1,3 Glucan) is needed for activity and that additionally, the chains must have numerous branches at intervals of about five or six sugar molecules along a chain. It has been shown that inactive polysaccharides, such as those found in hoelen, can be transformed into active polysaccharides by changing the chain structure (done in the laboratory with chemical treatments). This indicates that the chain structure is critical to the activity. Compared to other medicinal plants containing polysaccharides, ganoderma appears to be the most active.
The polysaccharides act on the immune system. They may alert the immune system to look out for similar structures found on the surface of pathogenic bacteria, yeasts, and viruses. In fact, some of the earliest experiments with polysaccharides and the immune system were conducted with polysaccharides isolated from the surface of bacteria. A recent paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine presented evidence to support the idea that some people specifically lack a normal immune response to polysaccharides on the surface of pneumococcus and other bacteria. This leaves them subject to repeated infections by these organisms. In such cases, mushroom polysaccharides may be able to moderate the immunologic responses and induce resistance to the diseases.
The main assay for effectiveness of the polysaccharides is anti-tumor activity. Unlike commonly used cancer drugs (that kill off fast-growing cells such as cancer cells, but also many normal and important cells) , the polysaccharides help eliminate tumors by promoting immune system attack against the malignant cells. In a Japanese laboratory test of mushroom polysaccharides, sarcoma 180 solid tumor cells were implanted into mice, which then received either a neutral solution or one of the mushroom polysaccharides. Ganoderma polysaccharides produced the strongest response, with up to 98 percent inhibition of tumor growth compared to animals receiving neutral solution. Complete regression of the tumor was found in up to 80 percent of the animals, depending upon the specific polysaccharide tested. In contrast, the neutral solution and the ineffective fractions from the mushrooms produced no significant tumor growth inhibition and no cases of total regression. These studies were conducted over a five-week period with daily injection of the polysaccharides.
A similar study was conducted in Korea. A crude extract of ganoderma polyssacharides was again tested against implanted tumor cells in mice. In the control group, after 28 days, the average tumor weight was 4.5 grams but in mice receiving ganoderma extract, it was only 0.6 grams; further, one-third of the mice receiving ganoderma had complete remission of the cancer while the control mice had none.
In an attempt to evaluate how the mushroom polysaccharides affect tumors, the polysaccharides from the tree mushroom Lentinus edodes (shiitake mushroom) were used in detailed immunologic assays. There is a system called "complement" which is activated for the removal of foreign cells. The complement system is made up of several components (eleven major proteins have been identified thus far, labeled C1 through C11) that must work together. According to experiments, the polysaccharide promotes the C3 component and thus activates the entire system. In addition, it is shown that the polysaccharide influences the macrophages and helper T-cells, which activate another pathway in the immune system . It is believed that the polysaccharides from ganoderma have a similar mode of action. A study of nine edible medicinal mushrooms revealed that all had some degree of anti-tumor activity, which could be attributed to a combination of their polysaccharides and some fatty substances (probably ergosterols) commonly found in mushrooms.
Aside from the laboratory evaluations, clinical use of mushroom polysaccharides has begun. In Japan, since 1977, a polysaccharide-rich extract of the mushroom Coriolus versicolor has been used medically to nearly double survival rates when given along with Western cancer therapies for breast and lung tumors.
In 98 patients with surgical treatment of gastric tumors, half received the coriolus extract and of those 62 percent survived five years while only 35 percent of the theis survived that long. A similar in crease in survival rates was found in the treatment of advanced gastric cancer with surgery plus chemotherapy; 53 percent of those who received the coriolus extract survived five years but only 27 percent without it lived that long. At the National Cancer Center Hospital in Tokyo, women treated with radiation therapy for cervical cancers had a 64 percent survival rate if they also received the extract, but only a 41 percent survival rate without it. Thus, the coriolus polysaccharides, which have the same actions as the ganoderma and lentinus polysaccharides in laboratory tests, appear helpful whether the treatments involve surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation.
The polysaccharides of ganoderma are found in all parts of the mushroom, but the amounts are difficult to quantify. The spores, found in the cap (fruiting body) are thought to be especially high in active polysaccharides. It appears also that ganoderma polysaccharides are better absorbed orally than those from most of the other mushrooms tested. The experiments with lentinus and coriolus were carried out with injections of small amounts of polysaccharides. When the edible mushrooms, such as lentinus, were provided oral-ly to laboratory animals, tumor regression could be induced at a significant level only when they were provided as 20-30 percent of the diet. By contrast, ganoderma seems to be highly effective at relatively low oral dosages in both animals and humans.
The mushroom polysaccharide effects are often called "immuno-stimulating, " but it should be pointed out immediately that the mushrooms might better be described as having an "immuno-regulating" effect. That is, they are useful also in reducing the pathological attack of the immune system in auto-immune diseases and the related phenomenon of allergies. Hence, ganoderma is used in Japan as a primary treatment for both cancer (requiring increased activity of some immune system components), and the auto-immune disease myasthenia gravis (requiring inhibition of pathological immune sys-tem functions).
How this new use of the mushroom was discovered is told by Mr. Inoue who is now involved in the manufacture of ganoderma extracts.
A popular T.V. show in Japan featured a discussion of traditional cancer treatments, one of which was the use of ganoderma. A viewer, whose brother suffered from a severe case of myasthenia gravis and who had a thymectomy, mistakenly thought his brother was suffering from a type of cancer, and she decided to provide him some ganoderma. Within one month, her brother went from being completely bedridden and taking food through a tube, to being relatively healthy and ambulatory. After two months he was discharged from the hospital, to the amazement of his doctors. She mentioned this result to Mr. Inoue who had supplied her with some of the mushroom for making tea. Mr. Inoue told his wife who suggested that they try it on her aunt who also had myasthenia gravis. The aunt's health improved remarkably after only one week, and after three months she was able to get around on her own for the first time in several years. Mr. Inoue then went to the Kyoto Medical College and asked if the doctors would be interested in trying it.
They scoffed at the idea, saying that two cases didn't warrant further study and these people shouldn't have used ganoderma without asking a physician first. However, they did suggest that he contact the Myasthenia Gravis Association (MGA), a group of myasthenia gravis sufferers who devote themselves to search for better treatment. The board of directors found Mr. Inoue's story interesting, and decided to try the ganoderma for themselves and some of the patients. The chairman of the National MGA of Japan later wrote: "Up to now we know of about 300 people who have tried [the ganoderma extract] for MG, and it has shown outstanding effectiveness in some of them, without significant side effects; we are very pleased."
More recently, it was demonstrated at Kinki University in Osaka that ganoderma reduced the histamine release that is associated with allergy reactions. It also helped prevent anaphylactic reaction. These effects, like the reduction of MG symptoms, are examples of ganoderma preventing immune system over-reaction.
