The effect of reishi mushroom polysaccharides on Obesity

Recently, some researchers at Hunan Agricultural University of China has done a study of the effect of reishi mushroom polysaccharides on obesity. Their newest study was published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, which showed polysaccharide extract from reishi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) is capable of blood fat reduction, anti-oxidation and anti-apoptosis that can fight against obesity.  

The researchers examined the effects of reishi mushroom polysaccharides on lipid metabolism, oxidative stress, and apoptosis in mice fed a high-fat diet. They also treated mice with reishi mushroom polysaccharides at a dose of 200 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) body weight or 400 mg/kg body weight for 12 weeks. The results expressed that treatment with reishi mushroom polysaccharides alleviated the oleic acid-induced cell viability loss and apoptosis dose-dependently in splenic lymphocytes.

In mice, treatment with reishi mushroom polysaccharides, in both dosages, obviously reduced the weight increases caused by the feeding with a high-fat diet. Furthermore, reishi mushroom polysaccharide treatment significantly decreased liver, heart, and white adipose tissues indexes, serum lipid accumulation, and serum and small intestine oxidative stress in mice fed a high-fat diet.

Reishi mushroom polysaccharide treatment also prevents high-fat diet-induced apoptosis. All in all, the findings of the study indicate that polysaccharides from reishi mushroom is endowed with hypolipidemic, antioxidant, and antiapoptotic effects against obesity caused by high-fat diets.