Antiherpetic activities of various protein bound polysaccharides isolated from Ganoderma lucidum

To investigate antiherpetic substances from Ganoderma lucidum, various prot ein bound polysaccharides, GLhw, GLhw-01, GLhw-02, GLhw-03, were isolated b y activity-guided isolation from water soluble substances of the carpophore s. These substances were examined for their antiviral activities against he rpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and type 2 (HSV-2) by plaque reduction as say in vitro. Among them, the acidic protein bound polysaccharide, GLhw-02 of a brownish substance, exhibited the most potent antherpetic activity wit h 50% effective concentrations (EC50) of 300 similar to 520 mu g/ml in Vero and HEp-2 cells, and its selectivity indices (SI) were more than 20. GLhw- 02 was identified to consist mainly of polysaccharide (approximately 40.6%) and protein (approximately 7.80%) by anthrone test and Lowry-Folin test, a nd showed the usual molar ratio (C:H:O = 1:2:1) of carbohydrates by element al analysis. These results suggest that GLhw-02 possesses the possibility o f being developed from a new antiherpetic agent. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.