Chemopreventive Efficacy of Ginger Extract (Zingiber officinale)

Abstract

The liver cells were cultured in the presence of ginger extract at various concentrations (0-1 mg /ml) for 24 h and the cells viability and proliferation rate were evaluated by MTS and BrdU assays, while apoptosis was evaluated by colorimetric determination of caspase 8 and 3 activities. Ginger extract exhibited a dose dependent inhibition of viability and proliferation of WRL-68, HLE and HepG2 cells with IC50 of 569.69 ± 7.99 µg/ml, 389.71 ± 26.56 µg/ml and 358.71 ± 17.12 µg/ml respectively. Ginger extract induced apoptosis through activation of caspase-8 and 3 in a dose dependent pattern for all cells at concentration ranging from 0-500 mg/ml.  We found that antiproliferative effect of ginger extract could be associated with induction of apoptosis as shown by increased activities of caspase 8 and 3.The results from this study suggest that ginger extract has chemopreventive properties against hepatoma cells HepG2 and HLE by inhibiting cellular proliferation and inducing apoptosis.Keywords : antiproliferation, apoptosis, caspases, Zingiber officinale