Standardized ginger (Zingiber officinale) extract reduces bacterial load and suppresses acute and chronic inflammation in Mongolian gerbils infected with cagA⁺Helicobacter pylori

Abstract

Previous investigations demonstrated that a standardized extract of ginger rhizome inhibited the growth of Helicobacter pylori in vitro with a minimum inhibitory concentration in the range 0.78 to 12.5 μg/mL. In the present work, the extract was tested in a rodent model of H. pylori-induced disease, the Mongolian gerbil, to examine the effects of the extract on both prevention and eradication of infection. The extract was administered to Mongolian gerbils at a daily dose of 100 mg/kg body weight in rations either 3 weeks prior to infection or 6 weeks post-infection. Treatment with the standardized ginger extract reduced H. pylori load as compared with controls and significantly (P<0.05) reduced both acute and chronic muscosal and submucosal inflammation, cryptitis, as well as epithelial cell degeneration and erosion induced by H. pylori. Importantly, the extract did not increase morbidity or mortality. Further investigations of the mechanism demonstrated that the ginger extract inhibited the activity of cyclooxygenase-2, with 50% inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) of 8.5 μg/mL in vitro, inhibited the nuclear factor-κβ transcriptional response in kBZ Jurkat cells (human T lymphocytes) with an IC₅₀ of 24.6 μg/mL, and significantly inhibited the release of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-α from lipopolysaccharide-stimulated human peripheral blood mononuclear cells with IC_{50 values} of 3.89, 7.7, 8.5, and 8.37 μg/mL, respectively. These results suggest ginger extracts may be useful for development as agents to reduce H. pylori-induced inflammation and as for gastric cancer chemoprevention.

Keywords::

• Antibacterial
• chemoprevention
• gastric cancer
• ginger
• gingerol
• Helicobacter pylori
• Mongolian gerbil
• peptic ulcer disease
• Zingiber officinale

Acknowledgements

This publication was made possible by Grant Number AT00412-02 (Mahady) from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NCCAM or NIH.

Declaration of interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.