Pharmacokinetic Studies of Ganoderic Acids from the Lingzhi or Reishi Medicinal Mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum (Agaricomycetes), by LC-MS/MS

Int J Med Mushrooms. 2016;18(5):405-12. doi: 10.1615/intjmedmushrooms.v18.i5.40.

Abstract

Ganoderma lucidum is a famous medicinal mushroom that has been widely used in clinical practice and as a dietary supplementa. The triterpenoid ganoderic acids are the main constituents of G. lucidum. To determine the pharmacokinetic characteristics of ganoderic acids, we developed and validated a sensitive and selective liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method to determine simultaneously the concentration of 4 representative ganoderic acids in rat plasma after oral administration of the extract from G. lucidum. Because of the similarity of their chemical structures, the 4 components exhibited similar pharmacokinetic behaviors in some aspects. However, some of the pharmacokinetic parameters and the reabsorption peaks in the plasma concentration-time curves of ganoderic acids B and E after oral administration of the extract were different from those of ganoderic acids D and A because of the metabolic transformation among the ganoderic acids. These results increase our knowledge about the use of G. lucidum.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Area Under Curve
  • Chromatography, Liquid
  • Dexamethasone
  • Fatty Acids / chemistry
  • Fatty Acids / pharmacokinetics*
  • Fruiting Bodies, Fungal / chemistry
  • Half-Life
  • Male
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Reishi / chemistry*
  • Tandem Mass Spectrometry
  • Triterpenes / chemistry
  • Triterpenes / pharmacokinetics*

Substances

  • Fatty Acids
  • Triterpenes
  • Dexamethasone