영지(Ganoderma lucidum)의 β-Glucan에 의한 Sarcoma-180 육종암 생장 억제

Mushroom-derived β-glucan, a polysaccharide (GLP) isolated from the mycelium of Ganoderma lucidum, was previously shown to have inhibitory effects against tumor-bearing mice in vivo. We investigated the apoptotic effect of mushroom-derived β-glucan in a sarcoma-180 tumor cell- bearing mice model using an ELISA to determine the levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in the mice. The morphology of the tumor cells was assessed with transmission electron microscopy (TEM). GLP was injected into the tumor-bearing mice at a dose (i.p.) of 20 mg/kg for 10 days. After 30 days, the tumor mass from the inguinal region was collected, weighed, and assayed using TEM and a TNF-α ELISA kit. The tumors that developed in the mice treated with GLP were 71.4% smaller than those in the control group, showing the ability of GLP to inhibit tumor growth. The levels of TNF-α in the serum of the sarcoma-180 bearing mice were 12 times greater than in the serum of the nonbearing tumor mice. An ultrastructural study demonstrated that the GLP-treated sarcoma-180 tumor cells were condensed, with rearranged chromatin. In addition, the marginated chromatin in nucleus induced the nuclear compartment, and there were many vacuolization in the cell. GLP could be an effective apoptosis-inducing compound in sarcoma-type cancers.