Sublingual Dripping Pill Formulation of Ganoderma amboinense Fruiting Body Extract Attenuates CCl4-Induced Liver Fibrosis via Multi-Pathway Regulation.

From the paper

Abstract

Liver fibrosis remains difficult to treat, in part because many hepatoprotective triterpenoids suffer from poor oral bioavailability and lack of optimized delivery formats. Ganoderma amboinense is a rare "antler" reishi species long valued in Eastern traditions yet scarcely studied for its phytochemical and pharmacological potential. Here, we report the first investigation of an ethanol-extracted G. amboinense sublingual dripping pill formulation (GDP) in a carbon-tetrachloride (CCl4)-induced mouse model of liver fibrosis. Mice treated with GDP at one- and five-times the human equivalent dose were compared to groups receiving unprocessed G. amboinense powder (GP) or purified ganoderic acid A (GA-A). GDP significantly prevented CCl4-induced weight loss and hepatomegaly, normalizing liver-to-body weight ratios and serum AST/ALT activities (p < 0.05). Histological evaluation showed that GDP markedly reduced hepatocellular necrosis and collagen deposition, restoring tissue architecture. Furthermore, GDP suppressed hepatic expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β, COX-2) and profibrotic markers (TGF-β1, CTGF, α-SMA) to levels comparable with or superior to GA-A. These results demonstrate that a dripping pill dosage form can effectively deliver G. amboinense triterpenoids and unlock their hepatoprotective activity, supporting further development of GDP as a novel liver-support nutraceutical.