Hsu Pei-Yu, Chern Jiun-Liang, Chen Hsing-Yu, Yang Sien-Hung
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Taoyuan, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
Chang Gung Med J. 2012 Mar-Apr;35(2):140-7. doi: 10.4103/2319-4170.106158.
Ganoderma lucidum (G. lucidum) has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years because of its immunomodulatory properties. It is believed that G. lucidum enhances the human immune response by improving the function of human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNs); nevertheless, the actual mechanism by which G. lucidum acts on human PMNs remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the molecular pathways through which G. lucidum activates human PMNs.
The phagocytic activity of PMNs was evaluated with and without treatment with the extract of sporoderm-broken germinating spores of G. lucidum. The same activity was measured after G. lucidum treatment with or without p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38 MAPK) inhibitor. The activation of p38 MAPK was also evaluated with or without treatment with the extract of sporoderm-broken germinating spores of G. lucidum.
In this study, we found that the extract of G. lucidum enhanced the phagocytic activity of PMNs in a dose-dependent manner, but this response was attenuated by treatment with SB203580, a p38 MAPK inhibitor. The extract of G. lucidum also enhanced activation of p38 MAPK in a dose-dependent manner.
These results clearly show that the extract of G. lucidum can modulate human immunity by activating human PMNs via the p38 MAPK pathway. These results may be of clinical importance to doctors of traditional Chinese medicine.
灵芝因其免疫调节特性已在传统中药中使用了数千年。人们认为灵芝通过改善人类多形核中性粒细胞（PMN）的功能来增强人体免疫反应；然而，灵芝作用于人类PMN的实际机制仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们调查了灵芝激活人类PMN的分子途径。
在有或没有灵芝破壁萌发孢子提取物处理的情况下评估PMN的吞噬活性。在用或不用p38丝裂原活化蛋白激酶（p38 MAPK）抑制剂处理灵芝后测量相同的活性。还用或不用灵芝破壁萌发孢子提取物处理来评估p38 MAPK的激活情况。
在本研究中，我们发现灵芝提取物以剂量依赖的方式增强了PMN的吞噬活性，但用p38 MAPK抑制剂SB203580处理会减弱这种反应。灵芝提取物也以剂量依赖的方式增强了p38 MAPK的激活。
这些结果清楚地表明，灵芝提取物可通过p38 MAPK途径激活人类PMN来调节人体免疫力。这些结果可能对中医医生具有临床重要性。
