Hypoglycemic and Immunostimulating Activities of Exopolysaccharides from Ganoderma sp. Mushroom in Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetes in Rats

Abstract

The incidence of diabetes mellitus is increasing dramatically worldwide. Different studies support an association between diabetes and decreased function of the immune system. On the other hand, Ganoderma mushroom, and its bioactive compounds, is widely used and recommended by physicians for its supporting effects on immune system. Therefore, this work aimed to test the hypoglycemic and immunomodulating activities of Ganoderma sp. exopolysaccharides (EPS) in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes in rats. Animals were divided into control, diabetic and Ganoderma EPS-treated (10, 50 or 100 mg/kg BW) diabetic groups, administered with Ganoderma EPS orally for consecutive 3 weeks. Glucose concentrations were measured using test strips, while the immunomodulating activity was determined by measuring the delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction, rosette-forming cells (RFCs) and plaque-forming cells (PFCs) responses as well as the in vitro proliferative response of murine splenocytes. The present results showed that induction of diabetes elicited a marked increase in blood glucose concentrations, a reduction in DTH, RFCs, PFCs immunological responses, as well as a decrease in splenocytes proliferation. However, treatment of diabetic rats with Ganoderma EPS alleviated all the above mentioned effects in a dose dependent manner. The present study concluded that treatment with Ganoderma EPS may have the ability to alleviate diabetes by reducing blood glucose concentrations and by enhancing immunity in STZ-diabetic rats sug-gesting its potential application as an antidiabetic agent in pharmaceutical and medical studies.