The purpose of this study was to observe the effects of the polysaccharide (GLP) obtained from the liquid cultured Ganoderma lucidum on the lipidperoxidation in a rat liver microsome and hepatotoxicity in the primary cultured rat hepatocytes. It is well known that the polysaccharide of Ganoderma lucidum exhibits hepatoprotective activity, antitumor activity etc., which many suggest a relationship to lipidperoxidation. The effect of GLP on CCl4- and galactosamineintoxicated cytotoxicity in the primary cultured rat hepatocytes were reduced the GPT value. In order to the estimate the effects of anti-lipidperoxidation of the polysaccharide, enzymatic and nonenzymatic reaction assays were performed, in vitro, in the rat liver microsome. An enzymatic lipidperoxidation reaction by ADP＋FeCl3＋NADPH and CCl4＋NADPH, GLP (1 mg/mL) inhibited 77.4% and 39.4%, respectively, and the nonenzymatic reaction displayed a 97.4% strongly inhibition. In the enzymatic and nonenzymatic inducers treated with GLP, the formation of malondialdehyde (MDA) progressively decreased by raising the GLP concentration. These results suggest that the anti-lipidperoxidation and radical scavenging activity of GLP may play an important part in the liver protection action.

The anti-diabetic effect of dried-silkworm Dongchunghacho water extracts was investigated in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Seven-week-old SD rats were randomly assigned to six groups: normal control (NC) group, diabetic control (DC) group, water extracts of Paecilomyces japonica grown on a dried-silkworm (PJ-DS, 50 mg/kg) group, PJ-DS (250 mg/kg) group, water extracts of Cordyceps militaris grown on a dried-silkworm (CM-DS, 250 mg/kg) group, and water extracts of dried-silkworm (DS, 250 mg/kg) group. These groups were orally provided with sample dissolved in water respectively for four weeks after an injection of STZ (60 mg/kg, ip) followed by identification of diabetic control (DC) group. After four weeks, body weight of all diabetic groups was significantly lower than that of the normal control (NC) group, but among diabetic groups there were no significant differences. Blood glucose levels of the PJ-DS (50 mg/kg), PJ-DS (250 mg/kg), CM-DS (250 mg/kg) and DS (250 mg/kg) groups were reduced compared to the DC group by 3.0 percent, 18.5 percent, 6.9 percent and 13.1 percent, respectively. Concentration of total cholesterol and triglyceride in blood plasma were to some degree decreased in PJ-DS (250 mg/kg) and DS (250 mg/kg) groups compared to the DC group. According to these results dried-silkworm Dongchunghacho water extracts (PJ-DS) boost protection against STZ-induced toxicity.