The reishi mushroom goes by many names – in China it is known as língzh?, and its scientific classification is Ganoderma lucidum. This mushroom is a member of the fungal genus Ganoderma. Mushrooms are particularly notable for their shiny surface, which can be deceiving because the inner texture is often tough. The cap is typically fan-shaped and reddish-brown.
The reishi mushroom is a type of fungus that decomposesdead organic matter through a process called extracellular digestion. The fungus is most often found on stumps, logs, or aged decaying trees. The plant prefers warmer climates and can be found in many places, including Asia, Australia, South America, Southern Europe, and parts of the Southeastern United States.
This mushroom has a long history of being used as medicine in China, Japan, and many other Asian countries. It is probably the most popular and well-known medicinal mushroom. “Língzh?” is the Chinese name for the mushroom. The word “língzh?” is made up of two characters, the first one meaning “spiritual potency” and the second meaning “eternal life.” In Chinese myths, mushrooms have been regarded as extremely beneficial for both spiritual and physical well-being. The first mention of língzh? in Chinese historical literature can be traced back to the Ch’in Dynasty (221-207 BCE). At that time, only the royal family was allowed to consume and use it. Nowadays, you can find the reishi mushroom in many different commercial forms, such as dietary supplements in powder or capsule form, extracts in the form of tea, broth, or dried slices. It is a popular product that is still well-regarded in traditional medicine in many Asian countries.
The reishi mushroom is mostly water, with the rest being made up of proteins, fats, fibers, and vitamins/minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, selenium, iron, zinc, copper, and calcium. This text is heavily composed of bioactive molecules, including water-soluble polysaccharides, steroids, phenols, nucleotides, terpenoids, and amino acids. The most potent physiologically active compounds in the mushroom are the specific polysaccharides and triterpenes, which can be extracted from the spores, mycelia, and fruit body.
The reishi mushroom contains bioactive polyglycans and water-soluble polysaccharides that can help reduce inflammation, heal ulcers, prevent tumors, lower blood sugar, and boost immunity. The triterpenes in the plant have been shown to decrease inflammation, prevent tumors from growing, and reduce the amount of lipids in the blood. Most of the research on reishi’s effectiveness has come from cell culture models, animal studies, and assessments done in a lab, rather than from clinical trials in humans.
Where Does Reishi Grow?
Reishi mushrooms can be found growing in warm climates all over the world, including Asia, Australia, South America, Southern Europe, and parts of the southeastern United States. This mushroom prefers to grow on decaying oak wood, but can also be found on the Japanese plum tree. Differentiating Ganoderma mushroom species is notoriously difficult, but recent taxonomic research has found that all strains of Korean Ganoderma lucidum can be clustered together in one group with Chinese, Japanese, and Thai strains of reishi. Although Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms from North America and Europe share the same name, they have different morphological characteristics.
Types Of Reishi
The term “reishi” or “língzh?” can also refer to the red variety of the mushroom, due to its characteristic brick red color. Reishi mushrooms can be distinguished from their relative, the “black reishi” mushroom, by their outer skin, which is jet black. Although Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma tsugae look similar because they both have tough but sleek dark red skin, they can be distinguished from each other. No two Ganoderma mushrooms are the same, and their shapes can vary significantly depending on temperature and the microbes around them.
Red reishi that grows in the wild is much better than cultivated reishi, because it is more powerful, adaptable, and full of active ingredients. Cultivated red reishi is highly standardized, so it has the benefit of being predictable. This means that the nutritional content of reishi grown by one farmer or a group of farmers is most likely to be the same. The most popular method for growing reishi in East Asia is to let the fruiting body grow on hardwood logs. The wood type that reishi is attracted to is used for this method. Duanwood reishi growers don’t use any harmful chemicals or pesticides. This means that real Duanwood reishi should be completely natural and grown in a semi-wild environment.
Reishi Side Effects, Safety, Dangers, And Warnings
The Ganoderma lucidum extract has been given the GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) designation by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States and it is usually recommended as a supplement with few side effects and very few reports of toxic after-effects. Some of the most commonly reported side effects of taking reishi supplements are feeling dizzy, having a dry nose and throat, and experiencing skin irritation or inflammation. A reduced number of patients have reported symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
Reishi in all its forms should be consumed at the appropriate dose, though side effects are typically mild and/or rare. If you have a bleeding disorder or take anticoagulant medication, you should ask your doctor before taking supplements containing Ganoderma lucidum. This is because it contains a substance called adenosine, which can make your blood thinner. You should speak to your doctor before taking reishi supplements if you are already taking medication for diabetes, high blood pressure, or clotting/platelet disorders.
Be careful when taking reishi in powder form. You should never take more than one month. In 2007, the Journal of the Medical Association of Thailand published a study observing an extremely rare case of liver toxicity in two patients who consumed reishi powder for two months. The patients had different reactions to consuming powdered and non-powdered reishi. They did not experience the same toxic effects from consuming the non-powdered form. Though Ganoderma lucidum is well-known for its ability to protect the liver, it can become fatally toxic to the liver if consumed in its powdered form for a period exceeding one month.
Immunostimulatory and Anti-inflammatory Effect of Ganoderma Lucidum on Breast Cancer Patients
Abstract
Although the mortality of BC has declined since the 1990s, it is still high, accounting for 14% of all cancer-related mortality in women. Although the mortality rate of breast cancer has decreased since the 1990s, it is still a significant problem, accounting for 14% of all cancer-related deaths in women. The development of tumors is often due to the evasion of detection by the immune system. As a result, there is a growing interest in alternative medicines that can improve the function of the immune system and target tumor cells. Ganoderma lucidum has been shown to be effective against tumors and in modifying the immune system. There is very little information available about how GL affects the immune system of breast cancer patients who are also receiving chemotherapy. The goal of this study is to look at the levels of four immune system biomarkers (interferon-gamma, tumor necrotic factor-alpha, interleukin-8, and adiponectin) in patients.
Discussion
The study found that using GL in ABC patients who were also receiving chemotherapy improved their immunity. The analysis of immune markers showed that IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-8 significantly changed over the 12-week period after the start of treatment with GL plus chemotherapy, compared to the control group of patients who were only treated with chemotherapy.
The study compared patients treated with immunotherapy and chemotherapy to patients treated with chemotherapy alone in order to assess the potential direct impact of chemotherapy on immune markers. This supports that our findings are not related to the effect of chemotherapy on immunity, but are due to the effect of GL when used concurrently with chemotherapy.
In BC patients treated with chemotherapy, there is evidence that the immune function can be reduced or damaged, leading to a decrease in cytotoxic T lymphocyte and NK activity. In patients with advanced stage BC, an impaired immune function was observed that promotes tumor progression and metastasis. In other words, traditional chemotherapy could diminish the positive effects of the treatment that causes more cancer cells to die. The negative effects of treatment may have a greater impact on immunogenic tumors, where the patient’s immune system plays a role in determining the success of treatment. Therefore, using a combination of chemotherapy drugs with agents that boost the immune system may be an effective way to counteract the immunosuppressive effects of chemotherapy. This study showed that IF-γ levels increased significantly in patients treated with GL plus chemotherapy. This indicates that GL has the ability to trigger an immunostimulatory response and activation of innate immune cells, which are necessary for promoting cytostatic/cytotoxic and antitumor mechanisms during the cell-mediated adaptive immune response. The increase in IFN-gamma can help stop the advancement and growth of tumors by making it easier for tumor-specific T cells to find and destroy them. It can also make tumors more susceptible to being killed by natural killer cells. In addition to promoting the immune response to a tumor, IFN-γ also can induce the expression of tumor-suppressing factors. This study found that increased levels of IFN-γ were seen in patients with advanced-stage cancer who were treated with GL, which is consistent with findings from previous studies.
A number of biological response modifiers have been combined with cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents recently in an attempt to both reduce toxicity and increase anti-cancer activity. Herbal medications that act as biological response modifiers may become a complementary cancer treatment approach. This means that there are agents or approaches that change the way the host and tumor interact, making it easier for the body to fight the tumor growth and spread. Our study indicates that GL significantly reduces TNF-α, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, which is shown to be up-regulated in breast cancer and known to promote the growth, and proliferation of breast cancer cells, expression of adhesion molecules, and facilitate the invasion of metastatic tumor cells and through this effect, GL would possibly augment the activity of chemotherapy. In addition to reducing tumor size, the significant reduction in TNF-α observed in the current study may also help to prevent the spread of breast cancer to the bone by inhibiting the formation of new bone-destroying cells. since TNF-α is known to stimulate the formation of these cells. A reduction in levels of TNF-α was found to be linked with an improvement in fatigue in breast cancer patients who were receiving endocrine therapy. GL’s inhibitory effects on TNF-α production may have other beneficial effects, such as improving cancer patients’ quality of life. An increase in TNF- α has been linked to cancer cachexia, which is characterized by weight loss, chronic nausea, fatigue, insomnia, and profuse sweating. Drugs that help keep TNF-a levels low may help improve symptoms related to weight loss and cachexia. GL may be a good way to make cancer patients’ lives better and stop cancer or treatment-related weight loss.
Different stimuli, like inflammatory signals, exposure to chemotherapy agents, hypoxia, and steroid hormones, have been shown to regulate the expression of interleukin-8. The levels of IL-8 were found to be higher at metastatic sites compared to primary sites in clinical studies. IL-8 and its ligands CXCR1/2 play an important role in metastatic colonization of breast cancer. Studies conducted in a laboratory showed that GL prevents breast cancer cells from migrating by reducing the amount of IL-8 that is secreted. This happens by preventing oxidative stress from causing phosphorylation. In agreement with other studies that demonstrate the down-regulation of IL-8 expression by GL in tubular epithelial cells exposed to oxidative damage, patients who received GL during chemotherapy showed a significant decrease in serum level of IL-8. This means that GL can suppress the inflammation caused by IL-8, which would prevent the spread of breast cancer cells and make them more sensitive to chemotherapy.
The levels of three immune markers (IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-8) were checked several times during chemotherapy treatment in patients who only received chemotherapy. There were no significant changes in the levels of the markers before and after chemotherapy, which suggests that using GL along with chemotherapy is important for treating breast cancer patients.
The study found that GL boosts the host defense response by changing various immune markers, but it’s not clear how GL does this. Other studies have found that the main active ingredients in this extract are the polysaccharides beta-glucans and GL triterpene, which have anti-inflammatory and antitumor activity. More research is needed to figure out which component of GL is responsible for its immune-boosting effects and how it works.
The study found no difference in the level of the adiponectin hormone in the blood. Small studies have shown that adiponectin has anti-inflammatory and immunomodulation effects. Larger studies have found that people with higher adiponectin levels are less likely to develop cancer. 0 kg/m2 to increase the levels of adiponectin; 2) Lack of increase of adiponectin levels associated with NAFLD. 1) The fact that the patients’ average BMI was not high enough to increase adiponectin levels; or 2) the lack of an increase in adiponectin levels associated with NAFLD. The small number of patients in both groups studied did not lead to a significant increase in adiponectin levels in the blood. You might need to take a higher dose of GL, more than 2 g/day, or take it for a longer period of time.
The results of the study showed that combining GL with chemotherapy can significantly increase the levels of immune markers including IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-8 in the blood. There were no changes observed in the level of the protein adiponectin. Since these markers improve immunity, there is a potential clinical benefit to using GL with chemotherapy for patients with ABC. Our findings led us to the conclusion that GL use with chemotherapy can help boost the immune system, reduce inflammation, and prevent the spread of cancer. These results present new opportunities to study how GL works with chemotherapy. These findings suggest that GL used in combination with chemotherapy may improve the therapeutic responsiveness of BC patients to chemotherapy and improve their quality of life during treatment. Clinical evaluations of response and toxicity are ongoing.