Determination of genotoxic-antigenotoxic effects of cultivated Ganoderma lucidum with the hen’s egg test for micronucleus induction

Abstract

Ganoderma lucidum is a mushroom used in alternative medicine worldwide, especially in China, and is also known as the “Mushroom of Immortality or Reishi”. In recent years, cultivated G. lucidum has also been produced in Türkiye and consumed by people, particularly in tablet, coffee, and tea form. One of the methods commonly used in genotoxicity tests is the micronucleus (MN) technique. Hen’s Egg Test for Micronucleus Induction (HET-MN) is a relatively new member of MN tests. HET-MN is an inexpensive, rapid, and extremely simple genotoxicity assay that is positioned between pure in vivo and in vitro analysis. This study aimed to determine, for the first time, the possible genotoxic-antigenotoxic effects of the aqueous extract at different doses of cultivated G. lucidum in Türkiye, using HET-MN as an alternative test method. G. lucidum aqueous extract at different doses (219 µg/egg, 875 µg/egg and 1750 µg/egg), vitamin C (50 µg/egg) as an antigenotoxic compound, and cyclophosphamide (50 µg/egg) as a genotoxic compound were injected separately and together into the fertilized chicken eggs at the 8th day of incubation. Blood smears were prepared from peripheral blood samples of the embryos and stained using the modified May- Grünwald–Giemsa method on the 11th day of incubation. In the smears, the frequencies of micronuclei and nuclear abnormalities in erythrocytes were determined under a light microscope. While the cultivated G. lucidum aqueous extract at the examined doses did not show a genotoxic effect, it exhibited an antigenotoxic effect. These results are consistent with another study that used wild-grown G. lucidum.

Keywords

• Cyclophosphamide
• Micronucleus
• Nuclear abnormalities
• Reishi mushroom
• Vitamin C

Project Number

Selcuk University, Scientific Research Foundation Number: 17201033

Ethical Statement

Selcuk University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Experimental Animal Production and Research Center Ethics Committee 2017/42.

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