Today's Paper KERALA

THRISSUR, May 26, 2013

Mushroom extract may prevent heart

attack

Ganoderma lucidum is not consumed as food, but has medicinal values.

An extract of Ganoderma lucidum , a kind of red mushroom, has the potential to

prevent heart attack, if experiments conducted on rats as part of a study by the Amala
Cancer Research Centre here are any indication.
According to the study, published recently in the International Journal of Cardiology
(http://www.internationaljournalofcardiology.com), Ganoderma lucidum (also known
as Reishi mushroom or Ling Zhi) ameliorates mitochondrial damage in isoproterenolinduced myocardial infarction (heart attack) in rats by enhancing the activities of TCA
(tricarboxylic acid) cycle enzymes and respiratory chain complexes. Mitochondria are
structures within cells that convert the energy from food into a form that cells can use.
Decreased mitochondrial function has been suggested to be one of the important
pathological events in isoproterenol-induced cardiotoxicity, says the study.
Isoproterenol is a drug for treatment of bradycardia (slow heart rate) or heart block.
Cardiotoxicity is the occurrence of heart electrophysiology dysfunction or/and muscle
damage. A team, led by K. K. Janardananan, Professor in Department of

Microbiology, Amala Cancer Research Centre, conducted the study. The other
members of the team were N. P. Sudheesh and T.A. Ajith.
The study was conducted by creating disease in rats by injecting isoproterenol.
Cardiac toxicity was assessed by determining the activities of creatine kinase (CK)
and lactate dehydrogenases (LHD) after the injection of isoproterenol at an interval of
24 hours for two days. Ganoderma lucidum was given once daily for 15 days prior to
the isoproterenol injection. The result showed that Ganoderma lucidum has protective
power against induced cardiotoxicity in rats. It enhances cardiac mitochondrial energy
production in ischemic condition, said Mr. Ajith.
Ganoderma lucidum grows on trees such as cashew. Unlike a few other mushrooms, it
is not consumed as food. It has medicinal values and has been used as folk medicine
in China for more than 2,000 years. According to the World Health Organisation
(WHO), an estimated 17 million people die of cardio-vascular diseases, especially
heart attacks and strokes, every year.