Chiu H.F., Fu H.Y., Lu Y.Y. et al. Triterpenoids and polysaccharide peptides-enriched Ganoderma lucidum: a randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled crossover study of its antioxidation and hepatoprotective efficacy in healthy volunteers. Pharm Biol. 2017;55(1):1041–1046.
Rationale
Short reishi trials had produced conflicting biomarker results (the 2004 Wachtel-Galor studies). This work asked what a genuinely long intake does: 6 months of a triterpenoid/polysaccharide-enriched preparation with a crossover design.
Methods
A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled crossover trial: 42 healthy volunteers took the enriched 225 mg reishi capsule or placebo for 6 months per phase, separated by a 1-month washout. Panels covered total antioxidant capacity (TEAC), thiols, glutathione, antioxidant enzymes, TBARS lipid-peroxidation products, 8-OH-dG DNA damage, and liver transaminases (GOT/GPT).
Results
The reishi phase significantly raised TEAC, plasma thiols, glutathione and antioxidant-enzyme activity, and reduced TBARS, 8-OH-dG and the transaminases GOT/GPT — a coordinated antioxidant and hepatoprotective shift.
Conclusions
Six months of enriched reishi produced a broad favorable biomarker profile — antioxidant defenses up, oxidative damage and liver-enzyme markers down — the strongest biochemical case for the species.
Worth noting
Duration and crossover design give this study unusual weight in the reishi literature — and it is exactly what the earlier null trials lacked (dose, duration, enriched preparation). Still biomarkers, not clinical endpoints: lower 8-OH-dG is promising, but nobody knows whether it changes disease. The earlier 2004 study's null at 4 weeks versus this positive at 6 months suggests time and enrichment are the critical variables.