Spore powder of Ganoderma lucidum for the treatment of Alzheimer disease: A pilot study

This study explored the feasible efficacy and safety of the Spore Powder of Ganoderma Lucidum (SPGL) for treating patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).

Forty-two eligible patients with AD were recruited. These patients were randomly allocated to an intervention group and a control group equally. The patients in the intervention group underwent SPGL, whereas the subjects in the control received placebo. All patients were treated for a total of 6 weeks. The primary outcome was measured by Alzheimer's disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive (ADAS-cog). The secondary outcomes were measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) and Neuropsychiatric Index (NPI). The adverse events were also recorded during the treatment period.

At the end of the treatment, GLSP did not show more encouraging outcomes in symptoms improvement, measured by the ADAS-cog (P = .31), and NPI (P = .79); and quality of life enhancement, measured by the WHOQOL-BREF (physical, P = .62; psychological, P = .69; social relationships, P = .75; environment, P = .82; overall quality of life, P = .74), compared with the control group. In addition, all adverse events were mild, and no significant differences were found between 2 groups.

The results of this study did not find the promising efficacy of SPGL for the treatment of AD after 6-week treatment. It may be because of the relative short-term of intervention. Future clinical trials with larger sample size and longer treatment period are urgently needed.