Effects of fermentation products of Ganoderma lucidum on growth performance and immunocompetence in weanling pigs

The purpose of this study was to test fermentation, for its products of a Chinese medicinal mushroom, Ganoderma lucidum, cultured by submerged fermentation for its effect on growth performance and immunocompetence in weanling piglets. In Experiment 1, 72 weanling piglets were allotted to one of four treatments receiving these fermentation products (GLF, expressed as amount of β-glucans) at 0 (control), 50, 100, and 150 mg/kg feed for 4 weeks. The results showed that at a supplementation level of 50 mg/kg feed, GLF caused the best growth performance, the highest pseudorabies antibody titre, and a decrease of blood glucose level. It was also demonstrated that GLF up-regulated the cell-mediated immune response related cytokines (IL-2, IFN-γ, and TNF-α) expression in different lymphoid tissues. After challenging with porcine circovirus (PCV) type 2 (Experiment 2), a supplementation with 50 mg GLF per kg feed also inhibited PCV-2 virus amplification, and ameliorated lymphocyte depletion in different lymphoid tissues. Conclusively, feed supplemented with GLF at 50 mg/kg could be beneficial to counteract the physiological stress in weanling piglets.

[1]  M. Spurlock.  Regulation of metabolism and growth during immune challenge: an overview of cytokine function. , 1997, Journal of animal science.

[2]  M. Territo,et al.  Glucan-activated macrophages: functional characteristics and surface morphology. , 1978, Journal of the Reticuloendothelial Society.

[3]  F. Blecha,et al.  Influence of dietary beta-glucan on growth performance, nonspecific immunity, and resistance to Streptococcus suis infection in weanling pigs. , 1995, Journal of animal science.

[4]  G. Ostroff,et al.  Anti-infective effect of poly-beta 1-6-glucotriosyl-beta 1-3-glucopyranose glucan in vivo , 1992, Infection and immunity.

[5]  H. Hikino,et al.  Isolation and hypoglycemic activity of ganoderans A and B, glycans of Ganoderma lucidum fruit bodies. , 1985, Planta medica.

[6]  T. Babineau,et al.  Randomized Phase I/II Trial of a Macrophage‐Specific Immunomodulator (PGG‐Glucan) in High‐Risk Surgical Patients , 1994, Annals of surgery.

[7]  K. Klasing,et al.  Immunologically mediated growth depression in chicks: influence of feed intake, corticosterone and interleukin-1. , 1987, The Journal of nutrition.

[8]  D. Li,et al.  Effects of lentinan on broiler splenocyte proliferation, interleukin-2 production, and signal transduction. , 2003, Poultry science.

[9]  C. Weng,et al.  Effects of β-Glucan Supplementation on Lymphocyte Proliferation, Macrophage Chemotaxis and Specific Immune Responses in Broilers , 2004 .

[10]  Y. Adachi,et al.  Enhancement of cytokine production by macrophages stimulated with (1-->3)-beta-D-glucan, grifolan (GRN), isolated from Grifola frondosa. , 1994, Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin.

[11]  H. Sauerwein,et al.  Influence of dietary ss-glucan on growth performance, lymphocyte proliferation, specific immune response and haptoglobin plasma concentrations in pigs. , 2003, Journal of animal physiology and animal nutrition.

[12]  J. Segalés,et al.  Cytokine mRNA expression profiles in lymphoid tissues of pigs naturally affected by postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome. , 2003, The Journal of general virology.

[13]  Y. Adachi,et al.  Comparison of the immunopharmacological activities of triple and single-helical schizophyllan in mice. , 1995, Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin.

[14]  Yu-ling Lin,et al.  1,3-beta-glucan quantification by a fluorescence microassay and analysis of its distribution in foods. , 2004, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[15]  T. Nishitoba,et al.  New Terpenoids from Ganoderma lucidum and Their Bitterness , 1985 .

[16]  Hui-Nan Zhang,et al.  Anti-tumor and immunoregulatory activities of Ganoderma lucidum and its possible mechanisms. , 2004, Acta pharmacologica Sinica.

[17]  S. Makimura,et al.  Quantitative determination of bovine serum Haptoglobin and its elevation in some inflammatory diseases. , 1982, Nihon juigaku zasshi. The Japanese journal of veterinary science.

[18]  T. Opriessnig,et al.  Porcine Circovirus Type 2 (PCV-2) Coinfections in US Field Cases of Postweaning Multisystemic Wasting Syndrome (PMWS) , 2002, Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigation : official publication of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians, Inc.

[19]  Zhi-bin Lin.  Cellular and molecular mechanisms of immuno-modulation by Ganoderma lucidum. , 2005, Journal of pharmacological sciences.

[20]  Rodney W. Johnson,et al.  Inhibition of growth by pro-inflammatory cytokines: an integrated view. , 1997, Journal of animal science.

[21]  Hui-Nan Zhang,et al.  Hypoglycemic effect of Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharides. , 2004, Acta pharmacologica Sinica.

[22]  M. Gershwin,et al.  Two mushrooms, Grifola frondosa and Ganoderma lucidum, can stimulate cytokine gene expression and proliferation in human T lymphocytes , 1999 .

[23]  Y. Adachi,et al.  Effect of beta-glucans on the nitric oxide synthesis by peritoneal macrophage in mice. , 1996, Biological & pharmaceutical bulletin.