UPLC-ESI-MS/MS-based widely targeted metabolomics reveals differences in metabolite composition among four Ganoderma species.

The Chinese name "Lingzhi" refers to Ganoderma genus, which are increasingly used in the food and medical industries. Ganoderma species are often used interchangeably since the differences in their composition are not known. To find compositional metabolite differences among Ganoderma species, we conducted a widely targeted metabolomics analysis of four commonly used edible and medicinal Ganoderma species based on ultra performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry. Through pairwise comparisons, we identified 575-764 significant differential metabolites among the species, most of which exhibited large fold differences. We screened and analyzed the composition and functionality of the advantageous metabolites in each species. Ganoderma lingzhi advantageous metabolites were mostly related to amino acids and derivatives, as well as terpenes, G. sinense to terpenes, and G. leucocontextum and G. tsugae to nucleotides and derivatives, alkaloids, and lipids. Network pharmacological analysis showed that SRC, GAPDH, TNF, and AKT1 were the key targets of high-degree advantage metabolites among the four Ganoderma species. Analysis of Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes demonstrated that the advantage metabolites in the four Ganoderma species may regulate and participate in signaling pathways associated with diverse cancers, Alzheimer's disease, and diabetes. Our findings contribute to more targeted development of Ganoderma products in the food and medical industries.

Efficacy and safety of Tonglin Powder in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia / 中华男科学杂志

<p><b>Objective</b>To investigate the effect and safety of oral Tonglin Powder in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>We conducted a randomized controlled study on 100 BPH patients, aged 40－85 years, treated with Tonglin Powder (treatment group, n=50) or terazosin (control group, n=50), all for 3 months. Then we obtained the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), quality of life score (QoL), prostate volume, postvoid residual urine volume (PVR), urine routine indexes, and liver and kidney function indexes from the patients and compared them between the two groups before and after treatment.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The baseline data of the patients in the treatment and control groups were as follows, IPSS (22.24±7.33) vs (21.40±8.24), QoL 4 (2－6) vs 4 (2－6), prostate length 45 (30－65) vs 45 (39－65) mm, prostate width 35 (21－54) vs 36 (26－57) mm, and PVR 10 (5－100) vs 10 (10－100) ml, none with statistically significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05). After treatment, the patients of the treatment group, in comparison with those of the control, showed remarkable decreases in IPSS (11.60±6.49 vs 15.38±7.34, P=0.008) and QoL (2 ［0－5］ vs 3 ［1－6］, P=0.01). No statistically significant differences were observed between the treatment and control groups in prostate length (47 ［38－67］ vs 47.5 ［38－67］ mm), prostate width (36 ［26－57］ vs 36.5 ［31－57］ mm), and PVR (10 ［8－100］ vs 10 ［8－70］ ml) (P>0.05). The Nimodipine method of evaluation showed that the excellence rate of therapeutic effectiveness was significantly higher in the treatment than in the control group (40% vs 8%, P<0.001), and so was the total effectiveness rate (82% vs 64%, P=0.043).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Tonglin Powder can effectively improve the symptoms of BPH, such as difficult urination, and hence the patient's quality of life.</p>