Overview:
Documented in traditional oriental medicine journals, Reishi is considered one of the more important and popularly used herbal ingredients in the world. It is famous for restoring energy levels(1), supplementing normal liver(2) and immune functions(3), and effectively managing the stress(4)and side effect(5) level from the conventional therapies.
Active Constituents
Reishi contains beta-D-glucan, triterpenoids, and ganoderic acird which is believe to be the key to modulate the body’s immune response by linking to the beta glucan receptors found on the monocytes (macrophages), neutrophils, and NK cells.
Pharmacological and Clinical Research: Original Research on Reishi mushrooms
References:
1. Patani et al., Free-radical scavenging and mitochondrial antioxidant activities of Reishi-Ganoderma lucidum (Curt: Fr) P. Karst and Arogyapacha-Trichopus zeylanicus Gaertn extracts., J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol. 2009;20(4):289-307.,
2. Liu et al., Structure-activity relationship for inhibition of 5alpha-reductase by triterpenoids isolated from Ganoderma lucidum., Bioorg Med Chem. 2006 Dec 15;14(24):8654-60.
3. Huang SQ, Ning ZX., Extraction of polysaccharide from Ganoderma lucidum and its immune enhancement activity., Int J Biol Macromol. 2010 Oct 1;47(3):336-41.
4. Thyagarajan et al., Inhibition of oxidative stress-induced invasiveness of cancer cells by Ganoderma lucidum is mediated through the suppression of interleukin-8 secretion., Int J Mol Med. 2006 Oct;18(4):657-64.
5. Yu et al., Potential of a novel polysaccharide preparation (GLPP) from Anhui-grown Ganoderma lucidum in tumor treatment and immunostimulation., J Food Sci. 2007 Aug;72(6):S435-42.
