This book provides with a state-of-the-art report on what has been learned recently about Ganoderma and where the field is going. Although some older work is cited, the main focus of this book is on advances made over the past 20 years on the research history, classification, chemical components, pharmacology and clinical application of Ganoderma. Ganoderma lucidum (Lingzhi) has been used as a traditional medicine in Asian countries to benefit health and to treat diseases for more than two thousands of years. Recently, it has been found that there are multiple pharmacological activities of Ganoderma in preventing and treating some diseases, such as tumors, liver disorders, renal injury, hypercholesterolemia, obesity, cerebral ischemia reperfusion, bronchitis etc. Laboratory and clinical studies have showed the chemical components of Ganoderma, such as Ganoderma lucidum polysaccharide peptides and triterpenes isolated from the fruiting body of Ganoderma lucidum, have diverse pharmacological activities. Ganoderma or its chemical components play medicinal roles in antioxidant stress, radical-scavenging, immunomodulation, and intracellular signaling regulation, which suggests that Ganoderma and its pharmacological activities should be further studied. This book systematically summarizes the advances in understanding basic knowledge and pharmacology of Ganoderma. It will help researchers and graduate students yield new insights into development and clinical application of Ganoderma and related products. weiterlesen