Vijaya Padma Viswanadha, Arul Diana Christie Swamidurai, Ramkuma Kunga Mohan
Department of Biotechnology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, India.
Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2007 May;100(5):302-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-7843.2007.00046.x.
Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Zingiberaceae) is a commonly used medicinal herb throughout the world. Although some studies have demonstrated its antitumour activities on cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, the exact mechanism is not fully elucidated. Hence, the present study was designed to examine the in vitro cytotoxic activities of saline extract prepared from ginger extract on HEp-2 cell line. The cytotoxic effect of the drug was confirmed by 3-(4,5-dimethyl thiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide assay and cell counting and estimation of protein, DNA and RNA. Meanwhile, propidium iodide staining and agarose gel electrophoresis were performed for determining the induction of apoptosis. In addition, superoxide radical generation, nitrite formation and glutathione studies show involvement of free radicals. The present results show that the extract exerts dose-dependent suppression of cell proliferation; the IC(50) value was found to be 900 microg/ml. At a dose of 250 microg/ml, marked morphological changes including cell shrinkage and condensation of chromosomes were observed. Agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA from HEp-2 cells treated with 250 microg/ml ginger powder for 24 hr showed marked DNA ladder pattern. The involvement of free radicals was confirmed by increased superoxide production, decreased nitrate formation and depletion of glutathione in ginger-treated cells. Further screening of active components using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analyses showed the presence of clavatol, geraniol and pinostrobin in the extract. The results of the present study suggest that ginger might be useful as a potential antitumour agent.
姜（姜科植物姜Zingiber officinale Roscoe）是一种在全球广泛使用的药草。尽管一些研究已证明其在体外和体内对癌细胞具有抗肿瘤活性，但其确切机制尚未完全阐明。因此，本研究旨在检测姜提取物制备的盐水提取物对人喉表皮样癌细胞（HEp-2）细胞系的体外细胞毒性活性。通过3-(4,5-二甲基噻唑-2)-2,5-二苯基四氮唑溴盐（MTT）法、细胞计数以及蛋白质、DNA和RNA的测定来确认药物的细胞毒性作用。同时，进行碘化丙啶染色和琼脂糖凝胶电泳以确定细胞凋亡的诱导情况。此外，超氧自由基生成、亚硝酸盐形成和谷胱甘肽研究表明自由基参与其中。目前的结果表明该提取物对细胞增殖具有剂量依赖性抑制作用；半数抑制浓度（IC50）值为900微克/毫升。在250微克/毫升的剂量下，观察到明显的形态学变化，包括细胞收缩和染色体凝聚。用250微克/毫升姜粉处理24小时的HEp-2细胞的DNA琼脂糖凝胶电泳显示出明显的DNA梯状条带模式。姜处理的细胞中超氧产生增加、硝酸盐形成减少和谷胱甘肽消耗，证实了自由基的参与。使用气相色谱-质谱分析对活性成分进行进一步筛选，结果显示提取物中存在克拉瓦醇、香叶醇和松属素。本研究结果表明，姜可能作为一种潜在的抗肿瘤药物具有应用价值。
