The Antitumor Activity of Ganoderma lucidum (Curt.:Fr.)P. Karst. (Ling Zhi) (Aphyllophoromycetideae) Polysaccharides Is Related to Tumor Necrosis Factor-a and Interferon-y

In the present study, the antitumor activity of GL-B, a polysaccharide isolated from Ganoderma lucidum (Curt:Fr.)P. Karst. and its mechanism were studied in vivo and in vitro. The results were as follows: (1) GL-B 50, 100, 200 μg ml−1 inhibited the growth of implanted Sarcoma 180 in vivo significantly and dose dependently. (2) GL-B directly added to the culture medium neither induced HL-60 apoptosis nor restrained its proliferation in vitro. (3) The macrophage or T lymphocyte culture medium treated with GL-B (GL-B-M-CM or GL-B-T-CM) 50, 100, and 200 μg ml−1 significantly induced HL-60 apoptosis and inhibited its proliferation. GL-B significantly increased tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) release in dose-dependent and time-dependent instances. (4) As untreated macrophages and T lymphocytes produced little or no TNF-α and IFN-γ, and macrophage culture medium with normal saline (N-M-CM) or T lymphocyte culture medium with normal saline (N-T-CM) did not inhibit HL-60 proliferation or induce its apoptosis, it seemed that the antitumor activity of GL-B was related to apoptosis induced by TNF-α-release from macrophages and IFN-γ-release from T lymphocytes.