Ginger

Exposure to ionizing radiation induces reactive oxygen species (ROS) which leads to oxidative stress in the involved tissues. The oxidative stress may be minimized by using natural antioxidant products, such as Zingiber officinale or ginger. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective and antioxidant effects of ginger extract on the inhibition of oxidative stress in the serum and liver tissue of rats after exposure to x-ray irradiation.

Thirty-six Sprague Dawley rats were divided into six groups. Groups 1 and 2 received normal saline and DMSO, respectively; group 3 was placed in a turned-off X-ray device; group 4 was treated with ginger extract (100 mg/kg); groups 5 and 6 received X-radiation (4 Gy) and X-radiation + ginger extract, respectively. All treatments were orally administered once daily for four weeks. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidant status (TOS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were measured in the serum and liver tissues of the animals.

X-ray radiation significantly increased the levels of MDA and TOS and decreased TAC in the serum and liver tissues of irradiated rats compared to those of the control group. Ginger pretreatment prior to X-ray, significantly decreased the MDA and TOS levels and increased the TAC levels in the serum and liver samples of the rats compared to the rats irradiated with X-ray alone.

This study demonstrated that ginger acted as a protector against X-ray radiation by suppressing the oxidative stress in the rats’ liver and serum samples.

Infertile men have higher levels of sperm reactive oxygen species (ROS) compared to fertile men. The high level of free radicals in semen can disrupt sperm function, damage sperm DNA, and reduce male fertility. We investigated the effect of resistance exercise alone or together with ginger and date palm pollen (DPP) supplements, as well as these two supplements alone, on sperm quality in infertile men with oligoasthenotratospermia (OAT).

This randomized, single-blinded trial was conducted on 48 infertile men with OAT. The volunteers were randomly assigned to 6 groups: Exercise (8 people), DPP (8 people), ginger (8 people), DPP+exercise (8 people), ginger+exercise (8 people) and control (placebo) (n=8). Participants in the ginger and ginger+exercise groups were taken two capsules (250 mg ginger) and also in DPP and DPP+exercise, two capsules (DPP 250 mg) daily for two months. Before and after the treatment, semen and blood samples of the participants were collected. Also, the semen was analyzed according to World Health Organization (WHO) reference value. DNA fragmentation and hormonal profile (luteinizing hormone [LH], follicle stimulating hormone [FSH] and testosterone) were determined by TUNEL and ELISA kit.

The sperm motility increased significantly in the supplements alone and supplements with exercise groups compared to before the treatment (DPP: P=0.006; ginger=0.04; DPP+exercise: P=0.001; ginger+exercise: P=0.002). Sperm concentration had a significant increase in the supplement alone and supplements+exercise groups (DPP: P=0.013; ginger=0.005; DPP+exercise: P=0.001; ginger+exercise: P=0.01), while no significant difference was observed in the normal morphology of sperm. The DNA fragmentation index level in all studied groups, except the control group, showed a significant decrease. Also, a significant increase in the levels of the studied hormones was observed in all groups except the control group (DPP: P=0.016 ginger=0.007; DPP+exercise: P=0.025; ginger+exercise: P=0.008 and exercise=0.006). FSH and total testosterone (TT) increased after consuming the DPP or ginger or doing exercise alone or along with supplements. While the increase of LH in all of groups was significant except exercise group and control.

Ginger, DPP and exercise have positive effects on the sperm quality of infertile men.

 The postpartum period is often accompanied by significant pain which affects maternal well-being and care of newborns. With an increasing interest in natural and safe alternatives to conventional pain management strategies, this study was performed with the aim to evaluate the efficacy of ginger extract and lavender oil capsules in managing postpartum pain.

 This single-blind, randomized clinical trial study was conducted at Baghdad Teaching Hospital, Iraq in 2023-2024. Ninety postpartum women were allocated to receive either ginger extract (250 mg per capsule) or lavender oil (100 μL per capsule) capsules orally (n=45 in each group). Pain was assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) at baseline and one-hour post-intervention, with follow-up over the first 24 hours post-delivery. The changes in pain scores, maternal satisfaction, and the incidence of side effects were compared between the two groups.

 Both ginger extract and lavender oil capsules significantly reduced postpartum pain scores compared to baseline (P<0.001), with the lavender oil group experiencing a marginally greater reduction (from 6.1 ± 1.2 to 2.8 ± 1.0) compared to the ginger extract group (from 6.2 ± 1.3 to 3.4 ± 1.1) (P=0.035). Side effects were minimal and not significantly different between the two groups (P=0.29). Maternal satisfaction was significantly higher in the lavender oil group (91%) compared to the ginger extract group (82%) (P=0.044).

 Orally administered ginger extract and lavender oil capsules are effective in reducing postpartum pain, with lavender oil showing marginally higher efficacy and greater maternal satisfaction. These findings support the integration of these natural remedies into postpartum care, offering safe and effective alternatives for pain management.

Some activities, such as acute activity, can cause an increase in inflammatory indicators and muscle damage in the blood.

The aim of the effect of taking ginger supplement along with acute extroverted and introverted activity was on some inflammatory indicators and muscle damage in the serum of obese girls.

After measuring the maximum oxygen consumption, 50 girls with a body mass index of over 30 kg/m2, age 24.89 ± 73.7 years, height 159.02 ± 5.20 cm and weight 87.77 ± 88.8 kg were randomly divided into 5 groups including: experimental group 1 [supplement+ extrovert (n = 10), experimental group 2 [supplement + introvert] (n = 10), placebo + extrovert group (n = 10), placebo + introvert group (n = 10)b , and control group (n = 10) became The training protocol included acute extroverted and introverted activity [positive and negative incline on the treadmill] was implemented. Supplement groups consumed 2 grams of ginger powder daily for 4 weeks. After fasting for at least 8 hours, blood samples were collected before and immediately after any type of activity to measure serum hs-CRP and ck levels. To examine intra-group changes, t-dependent and for inter-group comparisons, analysis of covariance with inter-group factor was used (P = 0.05).

The t-dependent results of this research showed that acute extroverted and introverted exercise in the pre-test and post-test, respectively, caused a significant increase in the levels of hs-CRP and CK in the supplement and placebo groups (P ≤ 0.05). Also, the results of covariance analysis showed that taking ginger supplement for four weeks after acute extroverted and introverted activity had a significant effect on hs-CRP levels (P = 0.04) between supplement and placebo groups. CK levels (P = 0.09) had no significant effect between the supplement and placebo groups.

Increased levels of inflammation and muscle damage in introverted acute exercise are greater than in extroverted. According to the results of this research, daily consumption of ginger supplements can reduce inflammation and muscle damage caused by physical activity.

Although chemical drugs are effective for postpartum pain, herbal medicines with relative safety and fewer side effects are more suitable. The aim of the present study was to compare the impact of “Ginger-Lavender” and “Mefenamic acid” capsules on postpartum pain.

This triple-blind clinical trial study enrolled 94 multiparous women complaining of moderate to severe postpartum pain in Valiasr Hospital, Fasa, in 2021. They randomly divided into 2 groups (n=47): the “Ginger-Lavender” 300 mg capsules (A) and the “Mefenamic acid” 250 mg capsules (B). Measuring the pain score started 2 hours after delivery and continued every 6 hours, before and 1 hour after receiving the related drugs, until 24 hours using VAS.

The demographic information of the two groups, including mothers' age and BMI, weight of newborns, breastfeeding, receiving oxytocin and the number of pregnancies and deliveries, were not significantly different. Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in pain severity between the two groups (A=5.02±1.24, B=4.72±0.97). Consuming “Ginger-Lavender” and “Mefenamic acid” capsules at different hours decreased pain severity significantly (p<0.05). No significant differences were found between the “Ginger-Lavender” and “Mefenamic acid” groups for the mean postpartum pain severity at different hours after the first (A=2.38±0.922, B=2.553±0.928), second (A=2.0217±1.242, B=2.021±1.188), third (A=1.55±0.97, B=1.61±1.07), and fourth (A=1.42±1.01, B=1.38±0.99) interventions.

Since “Ginger-Lavender” capsules reduced postpartum pain, it is recommended to use them instead of standard drug, “Mefenamic acid” capsules, as an effective and safe herbal medicine.

We chose ginger`s and onion's aqueous extracts to evaluate the antibacterial impact since Klebsiella pneumonia is a harmful bacterium that has gained resistance to several antibiotics, number of isolates was 35 females with different ages This investigation was done to learn more about the antibacterial properties of ginger`s and onion`s aqueous extracts against Klebsiella pneumonia, a bacteria isolated from urinary tract infections. Materials and procedures Researchers created four strengths of ginger and onion aqueous extracts (50, 30, 20, and 10 mg.ml), and investigated their efficacy against K. pneumonia, a bacterium that was isolated from urinary tract infections and identified using a Vitek-2 device. Results show that all four produced doses are bactericidal, and various inhibitory zones are present surrounding bacterial colonies. The aqueous extracts of ginger`s and onion`s both exhibit good antibacterial action at particular concentrations and collaborate effectively with others.

The aim of this study was to determination of Anti-Quorum Sensing (AQS) and anti-biofilm potential of the methanol extract of ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizomes against multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa).

The AQS activity of ginger was determined against Chromobacterium violaceum (C. violaceum) ATCC 12472 (CV12472), a biosensor strain, in qualitative manner using the agar well diffusion method. The violacein pigment inhibition was assessed to confirm AQS activity of ginger. The AQS potential of sub-minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (sub-MICs) of the ginger extract was determined by targeting different QS regulated virulence factors, including swarming motility (using swarm diameter measurement method), pyocyanin pigment (using chloroform extraction method), Exopolysaccharide (EPS) (using phenol-sulphuric acid method), and biofilm formation (using microtiter plate assay), against clinical isolates (CIs 2, 3, and 4) and standard reference strain of P. aeruginosa (PA01).

The AQS activity of methanol extract of ginger was confirmed against C. violaceum (CV12472) as inhibition of violacein pigment formation without effecting the growth of CIs and PA01 of P. aeruginosa. The ginger extract exhibited concentrationdependent inhibition of virulence factors and biofilm formation. The maximum reduction was found in swarming motility, pyocyanin, EPS and biofilm formation against PA01 (51.38%), CI3 (57.91%), PA01 (63.29%) and CI2 (64.37%), respectively at 1/2 MIC of ginger extract.

The results of present study revealed the effective AQS and anti-biofilm potential of Zingiber officinale rhizome methanol extract at a reduced dose (sub-MICs). The extract may be explored as an agent of antimicrobial compounds having AQS and anti-biofilm activity for controlling microbial infection and also for reducing the chances of emergence of resistance in P. aeruginosa.

Aflatoxins are naturally occurring toxins, predominantly produced by the fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. These toxins are often found in numerous agricultural and food products worldwide. The current study investigated the natural occurrence of total aflatoxins in dried split ginger purchased from different local markets in the Dar-Es-Salaam region, the eastern zone of Tanzania. Using a cross-sectional sampling design, a total of 50 ginger samples were analyzed in two preparations as a whole and peeled ginger based on Q+ Aflatoxin single-step lateral flow immuno-chromatographic assay. The results revealed that all ginger samples analyzed were positive for aflatoxins with levels ranging from 5.7–28.0 g/kg and 3.1–21.5 g/kg for whole and peeled ginger respectively. Forty (80%) and fifteen (30%) of the samples for whole and peeled ginger respectively were above the Tanzanian legally permissible limit of 10 g/kg. Interestingly, aflatoxins level of contamination in whole ginger were significantly higher than in peeled ginger (p<0.0001). This is the first report on the natural occurrence of aflatoxins in whole and peeled ginger samples from Tanzania. The findings of this study indicated that ginger peels are relatively prone to aflatoxin contamination.

Cancer is a neoplastic disease that continues to be a global challenge, with a reported prevalence increasing annually. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is overexpressed in various epithelial tumors such as breast and colon cancer, and for this reason, it is used for cancer diagnosis and treatment. Because of the high mortality rate associated with cancer and the side effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy, patients need replaced strategies for therapy. Ginger has biological effects, including antioxidant and anticancer activities.

This study aims to evaluate ginger extract’s effect on the expression of EGFR in MDA-mb231 and HT-29 cell lines.

Fresh ginger rhizomes were purchased from a local food market, washed, grated, and then ginger extract was prepared using ethanol. MDA-mb231 and HT-29 cell lines were treated with different concentrations of ginger (5, 10, and 20 gr/mL) extract in RPMI-1640 plus 10 % FCS for 18 h. The gene expression of EGFR was measured by real-time PCR.

The level of EGFR expression in MDA-mb231 and HT-29 cell lines after treatment with different concentrations of ginger extract was not changed significantly (P > 0.05).

The current data indicate that the ginger extract does not have a significant dose-dependent effect, in the concentration range of 5 to 20gr/mL, on the expression of EGFR in these cancer cell lines. It is suggested to repeat the experiments with higher concentrations of ginger and in a time-dependent manner.

Episiotomy is a usual midwifery surgery. Iran is a country with an abundant source of medicinal plants. This study aimed to investigate ginger extract ointment’s effects on the pain and recovery of episiotomy incisions in nulliparous women.

This randomized clinical trial was conducted in a public hospital in Iran on 70 nulliparous women with an episiotomy incision. The women were randomly assigned to ginger extract ointment and placebo groups. The primary outcomes included pain and wound healing that were assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS), redness, edema, ecchymosis/bruising, discharge, and an approximation scale (REEDA). The participants were followed up before discharge from the hospital and 5 × 1 and 10 × 1 days after the intervention. The secondary outcome was the number of painkillers used during the study. Data were analyzed by chisquare, independent t test, and the Mann-Whitney U via SPSS-13. The significance levels were determined to be P ≤ 0.05.

There was no significant difference between participants treated with ginger extract ointment and placebo in the pain and wound healing scores before the intervention, 5 × 1 and 10 × 1 days after the intervention. But, the pain intensity decreased, and the recovery speed increased clinically. Also, regarding the secondary outcome of this study, no significant difference between the placebo and intervention groups in the number of painkillers participants took.

The ginger ointment could not significantly improve episiotomy wounds’ pain and healing rate, but it was clinically helpful. So more studies with different doses of this ointment are needed.