Protective effect of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide against carbon tetrachloride-induced hepatic damage in precision-cut carp liver slices

Antibacterial lanostane triterpenoids from Ganoderma tsugae

A phytochemical investigation on the 80% EtOH extract of the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma tsugae resulted into the isolation of two previously undescribed lanostane triterpenoids, 7,11-dioxo-3β-acetyloxy-26,27-dihydroxy-lanosta-8,24-diene (1) and 7,20-dioxo-3β-acetyloxy-11β,15α-dihydroxy-22,23,24,25,26,27-hexanorlanosta-8-ene (2), togeher with one known lanostane triterpenoid ganodermanontriol (3). Structural elucidation of all the compounds were performed by spectral methods such as 1D and 2D (1H-1H COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy. All the triterpenoids were in vitro evaluated for their antibacterial activities against six pathogenic microorganisms. Compound 3 exhibited some activities against three Gram positive bacteria with MIC values less than 30 μg/ml.

Lanostane triterpenoids from the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma hainanense and their cytotoxic activity

Three undescribed lanostane triterpenoids, 24E-en-11-oxo-ganoderiol D (1), 11β-hydroxy-ganoderiol D (2), and 11β-hydroxy-lucidone H (3) were isolated from the 80% EtOH extract of the fruiting bodies of Ganoderma hainanense. Structural elucidation of all the compounds were performed by spectral methods such as 1 D and 2 D (¹H-¹H COSY, HMQC, and HMBC) NMR spectroscopy. All the triterpenoids were in vitro evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against six mammary adenocarcinoma cell lines (MCF7, MDA-MB-231, SK-BR-3, BT-20, HCC38, and AU565). As a result, compound 3 exhibited significant cytotoxic activities against all tested cell lines with IC₅₀ values less than 20 μM.

Immune-enhancing effects of Astragalus polysaccharides and Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides on Vibrio harveyi flgJ DNA vaccine in grouper

Astragalus polysaccharides (APS) and Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides (GLP) have been shown to possess strong immunoregulatory properties in aquatic animals. In this study, the fragment containing Vibrio harveyi flgJ gene was ligated into pcDNA3.1(+) vector and pcDNA3.1(+)-flgJ was constructed as DNA vaccine. APS and GLP were used as DNA vaccine adjuvants to evaluate the immunoregulatory effect by intramuscular injection to pearl gentian grouper (♀Epinephelus fuscoguttatus × ♂E. lanceolatus). The results showed that pcDNA3.1(+)-flgJ combined with APS or GLP could significantly up-regulate the innate and adaptive immune response in fish, including serum-specific antibody titres, catalase and lysozyme activities. At the same time, DNA vaccine combined with APS or GLP significantly up-regulated the expression levels of CD8α, IgM, IL-1β, MHC-Iα, MyD88 and TLR3 genes in thymus, head kidney, spleen and liver of pearl gentian grouper in comparison with those of the pFlgJ group. After 42 days post-vaccination, V. harveyi was used to challenge pearl gentian grouper by intraperitoneal injection. The relative percentage of survival (RPS) of pFlgJ, pFlgJ +APS, pFlgJ +GLP and pFlgJ+APS+GLP groups were 69%, 81%, 77% and 88%, respectively. These results suggested APS and GLP were potential adjuvants for DNA vaccine against V. harveyi infection in pearl gentian grouper.

Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide inhibits HSC activation and liver fibrosis via targeting inflammation, apoptosis, cell cycle, and ECM-receptor interaction mediated by TGF-β/Smad signaling

BACKGROUND

Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide (GLP) has many biological properties, however, the anti-fibrosis effect of GLP is unknown at present.

PURPOSE

This study aimed to examine the anti-fibrogenic effect of GLP and its underlying molecular mechanisms in vivo and in vitro.

STUDY DESIGN

Both CCl₄-induced mouse and TGF-β1-induced HSC-T6 cellular models of fibrosis were established to examine the anti-fibrogenic effect of a water-soluble GLP (25 kDa) extracted from the sporoderm-removed spores of G. lucidum..

METHOD

Serum markers of liver injury, histology and fibrosis of liver tissues, and collagen formation were examined using an automatic biochemical analyzer, H&E staining, Sirius red staining, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, ELISA, Western blotting, and qRT-PCR. RNA-sequencing, enrichment pathway analysis, Western blotting, qRT-PCR, and flow cytometry were employed to identify the potential molecular targets and signaling pathways that are responsible for the anti-fibrotic effect of GLP.

RESULTS

We showed that GLP (150 and 300 mg/kg) significantly inhibited hepatic fibrogenesis and inflammation in CCl₄-treated mice as mediated by the TLR4/NF-κB/MyD88 signaling pathway. We further demonstrated that GLP significantly inhibited hepatic stellate cell (HSCs) activation in mice and in TGF-β1-induced HSC-T6 cells as manifested by reduced collagen I and a-SMA expressions. RNA-sequencing uncovered inflammation, apoptosis, cell cycle, ECM-receptor interaction, TLR4/NF-κB, and TGF-β/Smad signalings as major pathways suppressed by GLP administration. Further studies demonstrated that GLP elicits anti-fibrotic actions that are associated with a novel dual effect on apoptosis in vivo (inhibit) or in vitro (promote), suppression of cell cycle in vivo, induction of S phase arrest in vitro, and attenuation of ECM-receptor interaction-associated molecule expressions including integrins ITGA6 and ITGA8. Furthermore, GLP significantly inhibited the TGF-β/Smad signaling in mice, and reduced TGF-β1 or its agonist SRI-011381-induced Smad2 and Smad3 phosphorylations, but increased Samd7 expression in HSC-T6 cells.

CONCLUSION

This study provides the first evidence that GLP could be a promising dietary strategy for treating liver fibrosis, which protects against liver fibrosis and HSC activation through targeting inflammation, apoptosis, cell cycle, and ECM-receptor interactions that are mediated by TGF-β/Smad signaling.

The Roles of Polysaccharides in Carp Farming: A Review

Carp is an important aquaculture species globally, and the production is expected to increase with the growing market demands. Despite that, disease outbreaks remain a major challenge, impeding the development of sustainable carp farming. Moreover, the application of antibiotics, a common prophylactic agent, can adversely impact public health and the environment. Therefore, polysaccharide has been recognized as a novel prophylactic agent in the health management of carp farming, as well as gaining consumers' confidence in carp farming products. In this review, the definition, sources, and main roles of polysaccharides in improving growth performance, stimulating the immune system, enhancing disease resistance, and alleviating abiotic stresses in carp farming are discussed and summarized. In addition, the use of polysaccharides in combination with other prophylactic agents to improve carp farming production is also highlighted. This review aims to highlight the roles of polysaccharides and provide valuable information on the benefits of polysaccharides in carp farming.

Polysaccharide derived from pomelo seed coat ameliorates APAP-induced liver injury in hybrid grouper (<i>Epinephelus lanceolatus</i>♂ × <i>Epinephelus fuscoguttatus</i>♀)

Ever-increasingly Citrus wastes have been generating during the industrial processing, which is troublesome to dispose them for the considerations of economic feasibility and environmental protection. Meanwhile, liver disease, which causes liver damage, is the one of the major threats for the further development of aquaculture, especially in marine fish. The present study explored the hepatoprotective effect of PSCP, a polysaccharide extracted from the pomelo seed coat, in the primary hepatocytes of hybrid grouper (<i>Epinephelus fuscoguttatus</i>♂ × <i>Epinephelus lanceolatus</i>♀). PSCP displayed considerably scavenging effect to the free radicals and strong inhibitive effect to the erythrocyte hemolysis. In vitro, we added PSCP (0, 100, 200 and 400 μg/mL) to the primary hepatocytes before incubation with Acetaminophen (APAP) (12 mM). The CKK-8 experiment displayed the administration of PSCP (100 and 200 μg/mL) substantially mitigated the reduction of hepatocyte viability inflicted by APAP. Moreover, we found that PSCP effectively alleviated APAP-induced oxidative stress, as shown by the significantly reduced level of reactive oxygen species and the elevated enzymatic activities of superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione peroxidase, which indicated its anti-liver injury effect (P<0.05). The more direct signs associating with the hepatoprotection of PSCP are reflected in the results of hematoxylin and eosin staining, as evident by the morphological recovery following the addition of PSCP. In brief, these findings showed that the therapeutic potential of PSCP on APAP-induced fish liver injury, which not only provided a now prospect in treating the liver impairment in aquatic animals, but to also improve the utilization of pomelo fruitlets.

The Pharmacological Rationales and Molecular Mechanisms of Ganoderma lucidum Polysaccharides for the Therapeutic Applications of Multiple Diseases

As a versatile Chinese herb, Ganoderma lucidum (Leyss. ex Fr.) Karst (G. lucidum) has been applied to treat multiple diseases in clinics and improve the quality of life of patients. Among all of its extracts, the main bioactive components are G. lucidum polysaccharides (GLPs), which possess many therapeutic effects, such as antitumor, immunoregulatory, anti-oxidant, antidiabetic, antibacterial, and antifungal effects and neuroprotection activities. This review briefly summarized the recent studies of the pharmacological rationales of GLPs and their underlying molecular signaling transmission mechanisms in treating diseases. Until now, the clear mechanisms of GLPs for treating diseases have not been reported. In this review, we used the keywords of "Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides" and "tumor" to search in PubMed (years of 1992-2020), then screened and obtained 160 targets of antitumor activities in the literatures. The network pharmacology and mechanism framework were employed in this study as powerful approaches to systematically analyze the complicated potential antitumor mechanisms and targets of GLPs in cancer. We then found that there are 69 targets and 21 network pathways in "Pathways in cancer". Besides, we summarized the effects of GLPs and the models and methods used in the research of GLPs. In conclusion, GLPs have been studied extensively, but more in-depth research is still needed to determine the exact mechanisms and pathways. Therefore, this review might provide new insights into the vital targets and pathways for researchers to study the pharmacological mechanisms of GLPs for the treatment of diseases.

Translation, ribosome biogenesis, and oxidative damage caused by chlorpyrifos exposure to common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) liver: application of combined RNA-seq with sRNA-seq in risk evaluation of environmental toxicant chlorpyrifos

Pesticide chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a widespread environmental pollutant gaining attention as it is highly injurious to aquatic life. Although the toxicity of CPF is well characterized, but the mechanism of toxic response especially, the hepatotoxicity remained unclear. In this study, we performed integrated analysis, including micro-RNA (miRNA) and small RNA (sRNA) to analyze CPF exposure responding genes and enrichment pathways. A total of 23,742 expressed genes were detected and out of these expression levels of 1746 were changed significantly. Majority of them participated in protein biosynthesis, nucleotide binding, and oxidation-reduction activities. In extensive analysis of micro-RNA (miRNA) expression profiles by comparing CPF treated carp with control, we identified 214 novel miRNAs with CPM > 5 in at least one sample. The miRNAs have the same change in direction compared with overlapped mRNA pairs in upregulated genes, suggesting potential positive correlation. As a whole, we detected many differently expressed genes (DEGs) and miRNAs, which may be used as the biomarkers for the detection of CPF pollution in water and aquatic product safety. However, their functions are required to be deeply analyzed, especially more samples or time pointed data are needed to illustrate their concrete mechanism.

Significant effects of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide on lipid metabolism in diabetes may be associated with the activation of the FAM3C-HSF1-CAM signaling pathway

Diabetes is a threat to patient health worldwide. Type 2 diabetes (T2DM), one of the two main types of diabetes, is a long-term metabolic disease caused by heredity and environmental factors. It has been reported that Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide (GLP) significantly decreased the concentration of blood glucose, promoted insulin secretion, improved glucose tolerance and regulated the concentration of blood lipids. In the present study, a T2DM model was established in db/db mice, following which T2DM mice were treated with GLP (100 and 400 mg/kg) for 8 weeks, with MET used as the positive control. The glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) and fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, and diabetes-associated clinical chemistry indexes were detected in the blood and serum of each mouse. Hematoxylin and eosin, and oil red O staining were performed on the livers of each mouse to evaluate the level of liver fat. The expression levels of family with sequence similarity 3 (FAM3C), heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), calmodulin (CaM), AKT and phosphorylated (p)-AKT were detected in the hepatocytes of T2DM mice using reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting. The results demonstrated that the unbalanced levels of HbAlc, FBG and diabetes-related index in T2DM mice were significantly improved by treatment with GLP. Lipid droplets in the hepatocytes of mice shrank in the GLP groups compared with the model control group. The expression levels of FAM3C, HSF1, CaM and p-AKT/AKT in the hepatocytes of T2DM mice were significantly increased following treatment with GLP. In conclusion, GLP exerted significant effects on lipid metabolism in diabetes, which may be associated with the activation of the FAM3C-HSF1-CaM signaling pathway.

Apigenin, flavonoid component isolated from Gentiana veitchiorum flower suppresses the oxidative stress through LDLR-LCAT signaling pathway

Flower of Gentiana veitchiorum has traditionally been used as an herbal medicine in Tibet for treatment of variola, respiratory infection, and pneumonia. However, the effective components contained in flower are not identified yet, and the underlying mechanisms for anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antioxidative activities remain to be elucidated. Here, we first extracted the flavonoid mixture from G. veitchiorum flower. The mixture was then further isolated and the within compounds was identified through the high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS). The results showed that apigenin (4',5,7-trihydroxyflavone) was the most abundant flavonoid in G. veitchiorum flower. We next examined the antioxidative activity of the extracted apigenin using the ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP), the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and the 2,2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS) assays and found that a positive correlation between apigenin concentration and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging rate. The biochemical assays further revealed that the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were reduced, while the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was increased after apigenin treatment in hyperlipidemic rats. Moreover, we performed histopathological investigations and found that the lipidic deposition patterns were recovered and the amount of lipid vacuoles was significantly reduced in apigenin-treated hyperlipidemic rat liver. Western blotting assay showed that the expression of low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) and lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) were up-regulated in the apigenin-treated samples. Overall, our results demonstrated that the apigenin isolated from G. veitchiorum flower exhibited radical scavenging activities, and reversed the high fat diet-induced oxidative damage in rats. Its antioxidative activities are probably achieved via LDLR-LCAT signaling pathway.

Pharmacological effects of Ganoderma lucidum extract against high-altitude stressors and its subchronic toxicity assessment

Acclimatization is a major pathophysiological concern during ascent to high altitude and may cause mortality in unacclimatized individuals. Absence of target drugs, especially prophylactics, emphasizes the need for development of herbal agents. Present study revealed that animals pre-administered with aqueous extract of Ganoderma lucidum (GLAQ) dose dependently (50, 100, 200 mg/kg) delayed onset of convulsion following severe hypoxia (SH) and restored rectal temperature post-cold restraint (CR) and hypobaric hypoxia (HBH). The compromised antioxidant status (MDA, GSH, SOD, GPx), biochemical (ALT, AST, glucose, triglycerides, cholesterol, urea), and hematological parameters (red blood cells, white blood cells) were ameliorated with GLAQ treatment. Further, extract modulated inflammatory and thermogenic response by attenuating pro-inflammatory cytokines (NFĸB, TNFα, IL6) and restoring UCP1, SIRT1, respectively. Notably, extract did not produce any noxious effects subchronically in rats of both sexes with GLAQ administered at 100, 500, and 1,000 mg/kg in a single dose/day for 90 days, deeming it fit for therapeutic purpose. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: GLAQ exhibited better efficacy compared to internal control (gallic acid) suggest that array of bioactive compounds in extract might contribute toward efficacy. Further, antistress properties of GLAQ against multiple stressors including SH, CR, and HBH demonstrate its therapeutic potential for inducing rapid acclimatization and preventing mountain sickness. Conclusively, the present study based on Ganoderma lucidum extract intents to fill the lacunae behind development of nontoxic therapeutic agent for controlling high altitude-related maladies.