Effects of sporoderm-broken germination activated ganoderma spores on treatment of spinal cord injury

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method for effective treatment of spinal cord injury.
The method involves administering an effective amount of germination activated Ganoderma spore powder (GASP) into a mammal having spinal cord injury.
Ganoderma (Ganoderma lucidum Leyss ex Fr.
Karst) is a polyporous fungus which belongs to the class Basidiomycetes, the family Polypolaceae, and the genus Ganoderma.
Ganoderma spores are tiny and mist-like spores of 5.
about.
8 .
mu.
m in sizes which have extremely hard and resilient, double-layer epispores, thus making them difficult to break open.
The spores contain high concentrations of many bioactive substances, including, but are not limited to, polyunsaturated fatty acids, polysaccharides, vitamins, sterols, trace minerals, amino acids, and triterpenes.
The GASP used in the present invention are sporoderm-broken (i.
e.
, the double-layer epispores of the spores are broken so that the bioactive substances within the spores are released), which is produced by the method described in U.
S.
Pat.
No.
6,316,002 (the '002 patent).
The entire content of the '002 patent is herein incorporated by reference.
Through the unique spore-breaking method described in the '002 patent, the bioactive substances within the GASP are recovered in high yields and the functional activities of the bioactive substances are successfully preserved.
As shown below is a general description of the method used in the '002 patent, which leads to the production of the GASP: I.
Soaking to induce germination: Mature and perfect spores of Ganoderma lucidum were carefully selected to carry out a soaking process to induce germination.
Spores were kept in clear or distilled water, biological saline solution, or other nutritional solutions that could enable the spores of Ganoderma lucidum to germinate rapidly.
Examples of nutritional solutions include coconut juice or a 1-5% malt extract solution, 0.
5-25% extracts of Ganoderma lucidum sporocarps or Ganoderma lucidum capillitia, 0