[#2004-14] Effects of Ganoderma lucidum on Apoptotic and Anti-inflammatory Function in HT-29 Human Colonic Carcinoma Cells, Kee-Jong Hong et al.

Effects of Ganoderma lucidum on Apoptotic and Anti-inflammatory Function in HT-29 Human Colonic Carcinoma Cells

Kee-jong Hong, Dale M. Dunn, Chwan-Li Shen, Barbara C. Pence*

Department of Pathology,TexasTechUniversityHealthSciencesCenter

Ling Zhi extract (LZE) is a herbal mushroom preparation which been used world wide for the prevention and treatment of various cancers. The current study was designed to evaluate these claims in human colon cancer cells in terms of cancer preventive mechanisms. Results have demonstrated induction of apoptosis, anti-inflammatory action and differential cytokine expression during induced inflammation in the human colonic carcinoma cell line, HT-29. LZE caused no cytotoxicity in HT-29 cells at doses less than 10 000 µg/ml. Increas­ing concentrations of LZE reduced prostaglandin E, production, but increased nitric oxide production. LZE treatment induced apoptosis by increasing the activity of caspase-3. RT-PCR showed that LZE at a concen­tration of 5000µg/ml decreased the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 mRNA. Among 42 cytokines tested by protein array in this study, supplementation of LZE at doses of 500 and 5000 µg/ml to HT-29 cells reduced the expression of interleukin-8, macrophage inflammatory protein 1-delta, vascular epithelial growth factor, and platelet-derived growth factor. These results suggest that LZE has pro-apoptotic and anti-inflammatory functions, as well as inhibitory effects on cytokine expression during early inflammation in colonic carcinoma cells, which may be of significance in the use of Chinese herbal alternative medicines for cancer prevention.