May 2015/ Jinan University, etc./ International Journal of Oncology
Compilation / Wu Tingyao
The resistance of cancer cells to multiple chemotherapeutic drugs makes cancer treatment difficult. One of the key reasons why cancer cells develop multi-drug resistance is that the protein ABCB1 (ATP-binding cassette sub-family B member 1) on the cell surface will expel drugs out of the cell, causing insufficient drug concentration in cells to kill cancer cells.
According to research published by Jinan University and others, a single triterpenoid “ganoderenic acid B” isolated from Ganoderma lucidum can regulate the gene of drug resistance protein ABCB1, reduce its expression level, and at the same time inhibit the activity of ABCB1 ATPase, preventing ABCB1 from performing its function of “expelling chemotherapeutics out of the cell.”
By cultivating ganoderenic acid B and the drug-resistant liver cancer cell line HepG2/ADM together, the chemotherapeutic drug (rhodamine-123) that was originally blocked can enter the cancer cells and accumulate a considerable amount there. Ganoderenic acid B can indeed help increase the toxic effect of doxorubicin, vincristine and paclitaxel against the drug-resistant HepG2/ADM and even improve the therapeutic effect of doxorubicin against drug-resistant breast cancer cell line MCF-7/ADR.
In the past, studies in Taiwan have confirmed through cell and animal experiments that the ethanol extract of Ganoderma tsugae (triterpenoid total extract) can improve the therapeutic effect of chemotherapeutic drugs against drug-resistant lung cancer cells (Evid. Based compiement alternat Med. 2012; 2012:371286 ). Now the experiment of Jinan University clearly pointed out that the ganoderenic acid B in the triterpenoids is the active ingredient to reverse drug resistance of cancer cells. The connection of these different experiments has made the function of Ganoderma lucidum triterpenoids in reversing the drug resistance of cancer cells increasingly obvious.
The development of inhibitors against drug-resistant proteins such as ABCB1 is currently the goal of the active efforts of the medical community, but it seems that there is no ideal drug yet (Taiwan Medical Community, 2014, 57: 15-20). Preliminary research results have pointed out the potential of ganoderenic acid B in this area, and we look forward to further animal experiments to provide stronger evidence in the future.
[Source] Liu DL, et al. Ganoderma lucidu derived ganoderenic acid B reverses ABCB1-mediated multidrug resistance in HepG2/ADM cells. Int J Oncol. 46(5):2029-38. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2015.2925.
END
About the author/ Ms. Wu Tingyao
Wu Tingyao has been reporting on first-hand Lingzhi information since 1999. She is the author of Healing with Ganoderma (published in The People’s Medical Publishing House in April 2017).
★ This article is published under the exclusive authorization of the author
★ The above works cannot be reproduced, excerpted or used in other ways without the authorization of the author
★ Violation of the above statement, the author will pursue its related legal responsibilities
★ The original text of this article was written in Chinese by Wu Tingyao and translated into English by Alfred Liu. If there is any discrepancy between the translation (English) and the original (Chinese), the original Chinese shall prevail. If readers have any questions, please contact the original author, Ms. Wu Tingyao.
