Gingerol from Ginger herb - Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberaceae, review of research studies

Gingerol is the active constituent of fresh ginger. Gingerol is a relative of capsaicin, the compound from chile peppers. Gingerol is normally found as a pungent yellow oil. Cooking ginger turns gingerol into zingerone, which is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma.
 
Health benefit of gingerol
The oleoresin from rhizomes of ginger contains gingerol (1-[4'-hydroxy-3'-methoxyphenyl]-5-hydroxy-3-decanone) and its homologs which are pungent ingredients that have been found to possess many benefits, such as anti-inflammatory, liver protecting and cardiotonic effects.

Gingerol lowers body temperature
Systemic administration of [6]- gingerol, a pungent constituent of ginger, induces hypothermia in rats via an inhibitory effect on metabolic rate.
Eur J Pharmacol. 2008 Feb. Ueki S, Miyoshi M, Shido O, Hasegawa J, Watanabe T. Division of Integrative Physiology, Department of Functional, Morphological and Regulatory Science, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago, Tottori 683, Japan.
We investigated the effects of systemic administrations of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberaceae) or its pungent constituent, [6] gingerol, on resting body temperature in rats. Rats given ginger-containing rat chow for 5 days showed no changes in their day-night cycle of body temperature or physical activity. However, a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of [6]-gingerol (2.5 or 25 mg/kg) induced a rapid, marked drop in body temperature in a dose-related manner, with no change in physical activity. A significant decrease in metabolic rate was observed immediately after an i.p. injection of gingerol (25 mg/kg), although heat-loss responses underwent no alteration (versus vehicle). These results suggest that in rats: a decrease in metabolic rate is responsible for the gingerol induced hypothermia, and gingerol modulates or interferes with the mechanisms underlying body temperature regulation, while other bioactive constituents of ginger may counteract the hypothermic effect of gingerol.

Gingerol and cancer
Multiple mechanisms are involved in 6-gingerol-induced cell growth arrest and apoptosis in human colorectal cancer cells.
Mol Carcinog. 2008 Mar;47(3):197-208. Lee SH, Cekanova M, Baek SJ. The Laboratory of Environmental Carcinogenesis, Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-4542, USA.
6-Gingerol, a natural product of ginger, has been known to possess anti-tumorigenic and pro-apoptotic activities. Our results suggest that 6-gingerol stimulates apoptosis through upregulation of NAG-1 and G(1) cell cycle arrest through downregulation of cyclin D1. Multiple mechanisms appear to be involved in gingerol action, including protein degradation as well as beta-catenin, PKCepsilon, and GSK-3beta pathways.

[6]- Gingerol inhibits metastasis of MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells.
J Nutr Biochem. 2007 Jul 31 Lee HS, Seo EY, Kang NE, Kim WK. Department of Sports Sciences, Seoul Sports Graduate University, Seoul 150-034, South Korea.
Gingerol (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberaceae) is one of the most frequently and heavily consumed dietary condiments throughout the world. We have found that gingerol inhibits cell adhesion, invasion, motility and activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cell lines.

Gingerol absorption and metabolism
Pharmacokinetics of 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol, and 6-shogaol and conjugate metabolites in healthy human subjects.
Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2008 Aug; Zick SM, Djuric Z, Ruffin MT, Litzinger AJ, Normolle DP, Alrawi S, Feng MR, Brenner DE. Deoartment of Family Medicine, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, USA.
Ginger shows promising anticancer properties. No research has examined the pharmacokinetics of the ginger constituents 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol, and 6-shogaol in humans. We conducted a clinical trial with 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol, and 6-shogaol, examining the pharmacokinetics and tolerability of these analytes and their conjugate metabolites. Six-gingerol, 8-gingerol, 10-gingerol, and 6-shogaol are absorbed after oral dosing and can be detected as glucuronide and sulfate conjugates.

Comparative antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects of [6]-gingerol, [8]-gingerol, [10]-gingerol and [6]-shogaol.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2009 Oct 13. Dugasani S, Pichika MR, Nadarajah VD, Balijepalli MK, Tandra S, Korlakunta JN. Department of Pharmacognosy & Phytochemistry, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530003, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Zingiber officinale Rosc. (Zingiberaceae) has been traditionally used in Ayurvedic, Chinese and Tibb-Unani herbal medicines for the treatment of various illnesses that involve inflammation and which are caused by oxidative stress. Although gingerols and shogaols are the major bioactive compounds present in Zingiber officinale, their molecular mechanisms of actions and the relationship between their structural features and the activity have not been well studied. AIM OF THE STUDY: The aim of the present study was to examine and compare the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of gingerols and their natural analogues to determine their structure-activity relationship and molecular mechanisms. The in vitro activities of the compounds [6]-gingerol, [8]-gingerol, [10]-gingerol and [6]-shogaol were evaluated for scavenging of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picyrlhydrazyl (DPPH), superoxide and hydroxyl radicals, inhibition of N-formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (f-MLP) induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in human polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN), inhibition of lipopolysaccharide induced nitrite and prostaglandin E(2) production in RAW 264.7 cells. RESULTS: In the antioxidant activity assay, [6]-gingerol, [8]-gingerol, [10]-gingerol and [6]-shogaol exhibited substantial scavenging activities with IC(50) values of 26.3, 19.47, 10.47 and 8.05muM against DPPH radical, IC(50) values of 4.05, 2.5, 1.68 and 0.85muM against superoxide radical and IC(50) values of 4.62, 1.97, 1.35 and 0.72muM against hydroxyl radical, respectively. The free radical scavenging activity of these compounds also enhanced with increasing concentration (P<0.05). On the other hand, all the compounds at a concentration of 6muM have significantly inhibited (P<0.05) f-MLP-stimulated oxidative burst in PMN. In addition, production of inflammatory mediators (NO and PGE(2)) has been inhibited significantly (P<0.05) and dose-dependently. 6-Shogaol has exhibited the most potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties which can be attributed to the presence of alpha,beta-unsaturated ketone moiety. The carbon chain length has also played a significant role in making 10-gingerol as the most potent among all the gingerols. This study justifies the use of dry ginger in traditional systems of medicine.

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