Bangladesh Journal of Pharmacology Volume 11; Number 3; Year 2016 Cite this article as: Mohan K, Padmanaban M, Uthayakumar V, Chandrasekhar R, Muralisankar T. Cytotoxic ac- tivities of Ganoderma lucidum ethanol extract against HepG2 cell line. Bangladesh J Pharmacol. 2016; 11: 632- 633. Cytotoxic activities of Ganoderma lucidum ethanol extract against HepG2 cell line Sir, The medicinal mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum (Ganodermataceae) is extensively used as a traditional Chinese herb to treat various human diseases like bronchitis, allergies, hepatitis, hypertension, immuno- logical disorders and cancer (Yuen et al., 2005). This mushroom composed of huge amount of polysaccha- rides (β-D-glucans, heteropolysaccharides and glyco- proteins), flavonoids, alkaloids, anti-oxidants, proteins, vitamins, minerals (Zjawiony, 2004). Some recent studies described ethanol extracts of G. lucidum, as in vitro inhibitors of various cancer cell lines such has melanoma, gastric carcinoma and inflammatory breast cancer (Martínez-Montemayor et al., 2011). The present study was carried out to investigate the cytotoxicity properties of G. lucidum against HepG2 cell lines. G. lucidum (P. Karst) samples were collected in December 2015 from the Maruthamalai Hills region, Coimbatore, India and were authenticated by the Mycology Division of Indian Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India (Voucher No: RT-25406/9-1-2015). Fruiting bodies of mushrooms were dried at 45–50ºC for 48 hours and powdered. The powdered material (2 kg) was extracted with petroleum ether in Soxhlet apparatus for 8–10 hours. The extraction was done in four batches of 500 g each. The defatted material was then extracted with hot ethanol: water (70:30) at 70– 80ºC twice. Ethanol extracts were pooled, concentrated and evaporated under vacuum. The extract thus obtained (40.8 g) was used for the experiments. Human liver cancer cell lines Hep G2 were purchased from the National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, India. The cytotoxic activity of the ethanol extracts of G. lucidum was investigated using the MTT assay (Lau et al, 2004). The OD value was measured at 570 nm. The IC50 value was the concentration of sample which reduced absorbance by 50% relative to the vehicle- treated control. The proliferation of HepG2 cell was significantly inhibited by G. lucidum. The Table 1 and Figure 1 show the changes of the percentage of cell viability treated with G. lucidum (1.88, 3.75, 7.5, 15, and 30 µg/mL) in HepG2 cell. There was 100% cell death at 30 µg/mL A Journal of the Bangladesh Pharmacological Society (BDPS) Bangladesh J Pharmacol 2016; 11: 632-633 Journal homepage: www.banglajol.info Abstracted/indexed in Academic Search Complete, Agroforestry Abstracts, Asia Journals Online, Bangladesh Journals Online, Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, CAB Abstracts, Current Abstracts, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Google Scholar, HINARI (WHO), International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Open J-gate, Science Citation Index Expanded, SCOPUS and Social Sciences Citation Index ISSN: 1991-0088; DOI: 10.3329/bjp.v11i3.27906 Letter to the Editor Figure 1: In vitro cytotoxic activity of the G. lucidum against HepG2 cell line A) untreated HepG2 cell lines, B) 1.88 µg/mL, C) 3.75 µg/mL, D) 7.5 µg/mL, E) 15 µg/mL, F) 30 µg/mL http://www.bioxbio.com/if/html/BANGL-J-PHARMACOL.html concentration. The inhibitory concentration 50% (IC50) was fixed as 8.3 µg/mL. Weng et al, (2009) reported that G. lucidum extract have been shown to inhibit the proliferation of HepG2 human hepatocelluar carcinomas. It has recently been demonstrated that polysaccharides from Phellinus linteus inhibit the proliferation and colony formation of HepG2 and that the growth inhibition of HepG2 cells was mediated by S-phase cell cycle arrest (Wang et al, 2011). In vitro cytotoxicity offers quick, simple and cost sufficient. Relatively few are practical and have suffi- cient sensitivity and robustness to be useful for drug screening. From the present finding, it can be concluded that the G. lucidum extract shows high toxicity of HepG2 cells. Kannan Mohan1, Muthusamy Padmanaban1, Venkata- chalam Uthayakumar1, Ramachandran Chandra- sekhar1 and Thirunavukkarasu Muralisankar2 1PG and Research Department of Zoology, Sri Vasavi College, Erode, India; 2Departments of Marine Science, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India. Corresponding author: email: kmohanphd@gmail.com References Lau CBS, Ho CY, Kim CF, Leung KN, Fung KP, Tse TF. Cytotoxic activities of Coriolus versicolor (Yunzhi) extract on human leukemia and lymphoma cells by induction of apoptosis. Life Sci. 2004; 75: 797-808. Martínez-Montemayor MM, Acevedo RR, Otero-Franqui E, Cubano LA, Dharmawardhane SF. Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) inhibits cancer cell growth and expression of key molecules in inflammatory breast cancer. Nutr Cancer. 2011; 63:1085-94. Wang Y, Aker WG, Hwang HM, Yedjou CG, Yu H, et al. A study of the mechanism of in vitro cytotoxicity of metal oxide nanoparticles using catfish primary hepatocytes and human HepG2 cells. Sci Total Environ. 2011; 409: 4753–62. Weng CJ, Chau CF, Yen GC, Liao JW, Chen DH, Chen KD. Inhibitory effects of Ganoderma lucidum on tumorigenesis and metastasis of human hepatoma cells in cells and animal models. J Agric Food Chem. 2009; 57: 5049–57. Yuen JW, Gohel MD. Anticancer effects of Ganoderma lucidum: a review of scientific evidence. Nutr Cancer. 2005; 53: 11–17. Zjawiony JK. Biologically active compounds from Aphyllo- phorales (polypore) fungi. J Nat Prod. 2004; 67: 300–10. 633 Bangladesh J Pharmacol 2016; 11: 632-633 Table I Effect of G. lucidum on HepG2 cell line Concentration (µg/mL) %Cell inhibition 1.88 0.18 3.75 4.13 7.50 35.35 15.00 96.60 30.00 100.00 http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thirunavukkarasu_Muralisankar DatePrinted: This article was downloaded by you on: Jul 19, 2016