Ginger Root Bioactive Compounds Specifically Inhibits Growth of Colon Cancer Cells in Culture.

OBJECTIVE

Colon cancer is affluent among many people, and having cancer greatly impacts the lives of many. Ginger is a common food, particularly in Asian cuisine. However, the health benefits of ginger as a whole food and 6-gingerol, its bioactive compound in prevention of colon cancer have not been fully addressed. This experiment investigated effects of ginger juice and 6-gingerol on colon cancer cell growth and death.

METHODS

Fresh ginger roots were homogenized for juice preparation. Total phenolic contents of ginger juice were measured using Folin-C assay. Colon cancer SW480 cells and normal colon epithelial cells CCD-18Co were treated with ginger juice and/or 6-gingerol. Cell metabolic activity was assessed by MTT assay. Cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest were accessed by immunoblotting. Data were analyzed by 2-way ANOVA with a Tukey post-hoc test and statistical significance was set at  < .05.

RESULTS

The results showed that ginger juice selectively inhibited SW480 cell growth at 25 µL/mL for 40 hours. High doses of ginger juice (at 50 and 100 µL/mL for 40 hours) inhibited the growth of both cell types. This was independent of caspase-3 activation. Six-gingerol specifically inhibited SW480 cell growth starting at 0.5 µmoL/L ( < .01). More than 1 µmoL/L 6-gingerol did not give more power to inhibit SW480 cell growth. The results also showed that CCD-18Co cell growth rates were not changed after 6-gingerol treatments (up to 10 µmoL/L,  > .1). Immunoblotting results revealed that the elevation of Myt1 levels and decreases in CDK1, p21 Wafl/Cip1 and pSer642-Wee1 only occurred in SW480 but not CCD-18Co cells when treated with 1 and/or 2.5 µmoL/L 6-gingerol for 40 hours.

CONCLUSION

6-gingerol can specifically inhibit SW480 cancer cells without killing normal CCd-18Co cells, through cell cycle arrest. Ginger juice can selectively inhibit colon cancer cell growth in a narrow window at ~25 µL/mL.