SOME PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIONS OF GANODERMA LUCIDUM AND G. JAPONICUM (FR) LLYOD ON MOUSE LIVER

Ganoderma has been considered to be a precious drug and a panacea for thousands of years in Chinese medicine. In recent years, Ganoderma was found to be useful for the treatment of chronic hepatitis, angina pectoris, neurasthenia and certain other diseases. Based on the clinical clues, we have studied the pharmacological actions of Ganoderma on mouse liver. The alcoholic extracts of Ganoderma lucidum and G. japonicum were shown to impede significantly the elevation of SGPT and the accumulation of lipids in the liver induced by injection of CCl₄ Moreover, the extracts were found to inhibit the infiltration of lipids in the liver caused by dl-ethionine and to decrease the mortality rate of mice given high doses of digitoxin and indomethacin. They were also shown to shorten pentobarbital sleeping time and promote regeneration of the liver in partially hepatectomized mice. All these pharmacological activities of the Ganodermas may be partially responsible for its use as tonics.