Research and Development, Father Muller Medical College, Father Muller Hospital Road, Kankanady, Mangalore, Karnataka, India 575002.
Food Funct. 2012 Jul;3(7):714-23. doi: 10.1039/c2fo10225k. Epub 2012 May 18.
Radiation is an important modality in treating people with cancer especially when surgical intervention is impracticable or might debilitate the patient. However, effective use of ionizing radiation is compromised by the side effects that result from radiation-induced damage to normal tissue. The use of radioprotective compounds, which can selectively protect normal tissues against radiation injury is of immense use because in addition to association with protecting the normal tissue, it will also permits use of higher doses of radiation to obtain better cancer control and possible cure. However, till date no ideal radioprotectors are available as most synthetic compounds are toxic at their optimal concentrations. Plants commonly used as dietary and or therapeutic agents have recently been the focus of attention since in most cases they are non-toxic and are easily accepted for human use. Ginger, the rhizomes of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Zingiberaceae), has widely been used as both culinary and medicinal agent. Preclinical studies carried out in the last decade has shown that ginger and its phytochemicals dehydrozingerone, zingerone possess radioprotective effects in laboratory animals and in cultured cells in vitro. The hydroalcoholic extract of ginger rhizome when administered either through intraperitoneal or oral route was effective in protecting against gamma radiation-induced sickness and mortality. The phytochemicals dehydrogingerone and zingerone present in ginger are also shown to protect mice against radiation-induced sickness and mortality. Mechanistic studies have indicated that the free radical scavenging, antioxidant affects, anti-inflammatory and anti-clastogenic effects may contribute towards the observed protection. Additionally, studies with tumor bearing mice have also shown that zingerone selectively protects the normal tissues against the tumoricidal effects of radiation. This review for the first time summarizes the results related to the radioprotective properties and also emphasizes the aspects that warrant future research to establish its activity and utility as a radioprotective agent.
辐射是治疗癌症患者的重要手段，尤其是在手术干预不可行或可能使患者虚弱的情况下。然而，电离辐射的有效利用受到辐射对正常组织损伤引起的副作用的限制。使用放射保护化合物可以选择性地保护正常组织免受辐射损伤，这非常有用，因为除了与保护正常组织有关外，它还允许使用更高剂量的辐射来获得更好的癌症控制和可能的治愈。然而，迄今为止，还没有理想的放射保护剂，因为大多数合成化合物在最佳浓度下是有毒的。作为饮食和/或治疗剂的常用植物最近成为关注的焦点，因为在大多数情况下它们是无毒的，并且易于被人类接受。生姜，姜科植物姜（Zingiber officinale Roscoe）的根茎，已广泛用作烹饪和药用制剂。过去十年进行的临床前研究表明，生姜及其植物化学物质脱氢姜酮、姜酮在实验动物和体外培养细胞中具有放射保护作用。生姜根茎的水醇提取物通过腹腔内或口服途径给药，可有效预防γ辐射引起的疾病和死亡。生姜中存在的植物化学物质脱氢姜酮和姜酮也能保护小鼠免受辐射引起的疾病和死亡。机制研究表明，自由基清除、抗氧化作用、抗炎和抗突变作用可能有助于观察到的保护作用。此外，对荷瘤小鼠的研究还表明，姜酮选择性地保护正常组织免受辐射的抗肿瘤作用。这篇综述首次总结了与放射保护特性相关的结果，并强调了需要进一步研究的方面，以确定其作为放射保护剂的活性和实用性。
