Determination of in vitro „anti-aging„-effects of Ganoderma pfeifferi

Abstract

Although the term „anti-aging“ is often used, it is not well defined. We used a perfusion cell culture model [1] for the sensitive detection of real „anti-aging“ effects and demonstrate here the results obtained with the new medicinal mushroom Ganoderma pfeifferi BRES. G. pfeifferi is a European relative of the medicinal mushroom Ganoderma lucidum (CURTIS: FR.) P. KARST (Reishi, LingZhi) used in Asian medicine for the prophylaxis and treatment of several disorders including aging processes [2]. A perfusion cell culture was characterised by the continuous addition of fresh nutrient medium and the withdrawal of an equal volume of used medium, allowing the realization of cell cultivation conditions that are approximated as closely as possible to the in vivo situation. We used a human amniotic epithelial cell line (FL cells, ATCC, CCL 62). Glucose consumption and lactate production were continuously measured as parameters of cell viability. Because the proliferation of the cells was inhibited by mitomycin the cell number was nearly the same over the whole time of the experiment. Application of extracts of Ganoderma pfeifferi or of Ganoderma Maresome® [3] caused a significant increase in the glucose consumption of the cells and prolonged their life span in comparison to the untreated controls. Whereas the control cells died about 210h after starting of the perfusion cell culture the treated cells live more than 270h. The effects occur also after prophylactic application of the mushroom preparation and those of Ganoderma pfeifferi are stronger than those of G. lucidum.