ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Chem.
Sec. Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
A new lanostane-type triterpene with lipid-lowering activity from Ganoderma lucidum and an additional analogue
Provisionally accepted
Hu XueshengHan LuTan YiyingWu PeitongLi YajingLiu WanjieShen JiamingLi YishanYang MingLi Chunnan
Sun Jiaming*- Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, Changchun, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) represents a chronic liver disorder with widespread global prevalence, primarily attributed to hepatic lipid accumulation, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses. In the realm of traditional Chinese medicine, Ganoderma lucidum is predominantly utilized for its hepatoprotective properties. The objective of this study was to isolate and identify novel bioactive compounds capable of mitigating hepatic fat accumulation. An in vitro steatosis model was established using oleic acid-induced HepG2 cells to evaluate the total triglyceride (TG) content across various components. Fractionation of the compounds was guided by the observed reduction in TG content, employing multiple chromatographic techniques to successfully isolate ten Ganoderma triterpenes. Structural elucidation was achieved through 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, supplemented by additional spectroscopic methods. This investigation led to the identification of two previously unreported lanostane-type triterpenes (1-2) alongside eight known analogues (3-10). Compound 1 and 2 exhibit structural distinctions from the other compounds, primarily in the substituents at positions C-3, C-7, and C-15, as well as in the spatial orientation of these substituents. In vitro experiments were conducted to assess the efficacy of various compounds in inhibiting lipid accumulation. Compound 1-5 demonstrated a significant reduction in TG levels within the OA-induced HepG2 cell model (p<0.05). In comparison to the model group, Compound 1 demonstrated a moderate lipid-lowering effect, (2.11 mmol/gprot vs 2.70 mmol/gprot, p<0.003). Conversely, Compound 2 exhibited a significantly more pronounced lipid-lowering effect, (1.27 mmol/gprot vs 2.70 mmol/gprot, p<0.0001). Furthermore, when compared with the positive control drug, the lipid-lowering efficacy of Compound 2 was significantly superior to that of Compound 1. Furthermore, the application of network pharmacology, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations elucidated the mechanism of action underlying the effects of methyl ganoderenic acid A(2).
Keywords: Ganoderma lucidum, Ganoderma triterpenes, HepG2 cell, Lipid accumulation, NAFLD
Received: 16 Oct 2025; Accepted: 17 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Xuesheng, Lu, Yiying, Peitong, Yajing, Wanjie, Jiaming, Yishan, Ming, Chunnan and Jiaming. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Sun Jiaming
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.