Intake consumption of ginsenoside Rg3, profiling of selected cytokines, and development of rectal polyps.

Rectal polyps is a major risk factor for rectal cancer. There is a need to explore a panel of preventive measures, as well as reliable biomarkers for screening of rectal polyps. We conducted a case control study which aimed to explore the effects of regular consumption of ginsenoside Rg3, profiling of selected cytokines, and development of rectal polyps in a Chinese population. Significantly higher levels of IL-4, MIP-1β, FasL, TGF-β1, and RANTES were detected in rectal polyp cases. Further, we found significant dose-response relationships between quartile-categorized levels of IL-4, MIP-1β, FasL, and TGF-β1, and risk of rectal polyps. The strongest associations for IL-4, MIP-1β, FasL, and TGF-β1 were observed for the highest quartile vs the lowest quartile with an OR of 1.78, 2.70, 1.49, and 2.36, respectively. Compared with non-Rg3 consumers, regular Rg3 consumers had a significantly lower risk of rectal polyps (OR =0.71; 95% CI: 0.55-0.92; =0.009). We also found that Rg3 consumers had significantly lower levels of IL-4, MIP-1β, FasL, and TGF-β1 than non-Rg3 consumers, in both rectal polyp cases and healthy controls. These results indicate that regular consumption of Rg3 might prevent the occurrence of rectal polyps through decreasing the serum level of selected cytokines, including IL-4, MIP-1β, FasL, and TGF-β1. Further clinical trials and prospective cohort studies with larger sample sizes are warranted to validate the anti-inflammatory activity and the anti-tumorigenic role of Rg3.