Effect of Ganoderma polysaccharides on T cell subpopulations and production of interleukin 2 in mixed lymphocyte response.

Mixed lymphocyte response was used as a main model through all the experiments In a series of concentrations (25, 50, 100, and 200 micrograms/ml), Ganoderma polysaccharides (GL-B) promoted the production of interleukin 2 (IL-2) in a concentration-dependent manner after initiation of culture for 12 h and increased the total cell recovery as well as that of Lyt 2+ and L3T4+ cells after 4 days of culture. The data also show that the polysaccharides markedly enhanced the cytotoxicity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which was increased by 100% at the concentration of 200 micrograms/ml.