Ginger Can Modulate Immune Response

 

    Flu season is around the corner. Although vaccination is a primary means for the prevention of influenza viral infections, poor vaccine performance, or inadequate immune responses may limit the efficacy of vaccines in vulnerable individuals of immune inadequacy.

 

    If you would like to modulate immune responses to vaccines, consider adding ginger into your diet. Ginger is widely used in the world as one of the important spice and traditional herbs. Ginger or its extracts had been reported to have many health benefits such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antibacterial, antidiabetic, and anticancer activity. This blog summarizes some research findings on ginger and immune responses/immune modulation.

 

    Chicken is one of the commonly used animal models for immune responses related to vaccination. A total of 225 1-day-old chicks were randomly allocated to five treatment groups in a randomized design for 42 days. Chicks were fed a basal diet supplemented with: no additive (control-diet), multi-strain probiotic, or 0.15, 0.20, and 0.25% ginger powder, respectively. The birds were vaccinated against bronchitis disease (1st and 18th days of age), Newcastle disease (1st and 18th day of age), influenza disease (1st day of age), and Gumboro disease (14th and 24th day of age). Dietary supplementation with either ginger or probiotics showed a significant influence on chicks' immune response. Antibody titer was higher in chicks fed 0.25% ginger than other diets after 7 days post-injection. The Lactobacillus ("good microorganism") counts in ileal content of chicks fed 0.20 and 0.25% ginger was higher compared to the other treatments. It was also observed that the abdominal fat weight in the group receiving 0.25% of ginger was lower compared to the other treatments (p < 0.05)(1).

 

    In another study, a total of 600 laying hens aged at 25 weeks old were randomly divided into 2 treatments. The control group hens were fed a basal diet; the experimental group hens were fed basal diets with 0.1% ginger extract. The ginger extract significantly enhanced laying rates and daily egg weight (p < 0.05). The ginger extract significantly improved plasma superoxide dismutase activity (one of the antioxidant defense enzymes), reduced malondialdehyde (MDA) (a marker for oxidative stress) of the birds. The ginger extract significantly increased lysozyme activity. Lysozyme is a naturally occurring enzyme with functions as an antimicrobial agent by cleaving the peptidoglycan component of bacterial cell walls, which can lead to bacteria death. The ginger extract also significantly reduced plasma prostaglandin E2 content. Prostaglandin E2 is a pro-inflammatory eicosanoid, closely related to a variety of inflammation. This study showed that ginger not only could improve the chickens' antioxidant capacity, enhance immune function, but also had a potential of reducing inflammatory response (2).

 

    Immunomodulation is a procedure that alters the immune system of an organism by the response. It can be immunostimulation to enhance the cellular and humoral immunity in normal organisms or restore immune system functions in immunosuppressed hosts. The ginger essential oil that was given at 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg recovered the humoral immune response and significantly increased antibody titer in immunosuppressed mice (3).

 

    Oral administration of the volatile oil of ginger in the doses of 0.125, 0.25, and 0.5 g/kg body weight dose-dependently weakened the delayed type of hypersensitivity response to 2, 4-dinitro-1-fluorobenzene in the sensitized mice (p < 0.05). The study demonstrated volatile oil of ginger influenced both the cell-mediated immune response and nonspecific proliferation of T lymphocyte, and may exert beneficial effects in some clinical conditions, such as chronic inflammation and autoimmune diseases (4).

​

    In a mouse model of pulmonary inflammation, ginger aqueous extract intraperitoneally injected before airway challenge of ovalbumin-sensitized mice resulted in a marked decrease in the recruitment of eosinophils to the lungs. Eosinophils are white blood cells responsible for combating infection by parasites in the body. The resolution of airway inflammation induced by the ginger extract was accompanied by a suppression of the Th2 cell-driven response to an allergen in vivo. 6-gingerol, a major constituent of ginger, was sufficient to suppress eosinophilia in the mice model of inflammation. This study showed that ginger could suppress Th2-mediated immune responses and might thus provide a possible therapeutic application in allergic asthma (5).

   

    The immunosuppressive activity of ginger was also observed in another study using the mouse model of ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma. Treatment with ethanol extract (500 mg/kg) and aqueous extract (720 mg/kg) of ginger, and methylprednisolone (5 mg/kg) was initiated 1 week after the second sensitization of mice with ovalbumin and continued for 7 days. Both ethanol and aqueous extracts significantly reduced goblet cell hyperplasia, infiltration of inflammatory cells in airways, and edema with vascular congestion. A highly significant reduction of total and differential count of eosinophils and neutrophils in BALF, and eosinophil count in blood were also observed. Both extracts significantly inhibited the Th2-mediated immune response. This study validated the traditional use of ginger in respiratory disorders and suggested that ginger could reduce allergic airway inflammation, possibly by the suppression of Th2-mediated immune response (6).

 

    Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a non-infectious immune disease. The efficacy and safety of ginger extract were compared with loratadine (an antihistamine drug used to treat allergies) for AR treatment. AR patients were treated with ginger extract 500 mg (n = 40) against those treated with loratadine 10 mg (n = 40) in a randomized, double-blind, controlled trial for 3 and 6 weeks. The efficacy was evaluated from clinical examinations i.e. total nasal symptom scores (TNSS), the cross-sectional area of the nasal cavity with acoustic rhinometry (ARM), and rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire (RQLQ). The safety of treatment was measured by blood pressure, blood analysis, and history-taking for side effects. The results showed both ginger extract and loratadine treated groups significantly decreased TNSS scores but there was no significant difference between the two groups. In acoustic rhinometry measurement, the ginger treated group significantly gradually increased the estimated volume of the nasal cavity and decreased distances from the nostril, but the loratadine treated group did not cause a change. Both groups gave a significant improvement in every aspect of the RQLQ in the third week. The treatment with ginger extract was as safe as loratadine as shown by renal and liver function results obtained from blood analysis. The ginger extract is as good as loratadine in improving nasal symptoms and quality of life in AR patients. However, ginger extract caused fewer side effects especially, drowsiness, fatigue, dizziness, and constipation. Ginger could be used as an alternative treatment for patients with AR (7).

 

    Ginger was used in different functional food combinations that showed to promote the immune response of the inactivated influenza vaccine. Mixed polysaccharides (MPs) derived from shiitake mushroom, Poria cocos, ginger, and dried tangerine peel were given to mice each day and for a total of 30 days, during which two immunizations were performed on mice on days 14 and 21. The results showed that serum total IgG and IgG2a levels were increased in MPs-treated mice on day 30. Following the H1N1 virus challenge, MPs pretreatment in mice could increase mice's weight gain and attenuate their clinical symptoms. Additional protective factors were also observed including prevention of excessive lung inflammation, promotion of CD19+ and CD278+ cell proportions in the lung, elimination of the virus in the lung, and elevation of IFN-γ levels in serum. The study demonstrated that MPs from shiitake mushroom, Poria cocos, ginger, and dried tangerine peel could promote the immune efficacy and alleviate lung inflammation in mice with vaccines against H1N1 virus infection by activating both humoral and cellular immunity (8).

 

    A functional food water-soluble mixture (FFWM) of pomegranate, red grape, dates, olive fruit, figs, and ginger extracts was tested in mice following viral flu vaccination for stimulating/modulating the production of specific cytokines, and hemagglutinin inhibition (HAI) antibodies. A single intraperitoneal or multiple oral administration for 1 to 7 days of FFWM; significantly increased the production of interferon (IFN)-&gamma; and interleukin (IL)-12 in the blood, spleen, and lungs of mice. When FFWM was orally administered for one week following a single vaccine injection (primary immunization) or for two weeks (one week apart) following double vaccine injections (secondary immunization), mice significantly produced higher titers of HAI antibodies. This increase in HAI antibodies was associated with Pillow-inducing significant and different changes in vaccine-induced IFN-&gamma, IL-12, IL-6, and IL-22 following primary and secondary immunizations. FFWM administration reinforced the protective immune parameters against viral flu infection (9).

 

    When viral infection coming from the flu season adds on top of coronavirus pandemic, there is a growing interest in identifying plant components with the immunomodulatory activity that may be employed as alternative medicines. Viral influenza infection causes serious health issues especially when an outbreak occurs. Although influenza virus vaccines are available and each year vaccine manufacturers modify the vaccine depending on the expected mutated strain, it is still far from satisfactory, especially in older adults or people with immune-deficiency. Therefore, a product that can support and shape the immune system to protect against viral flu infections is highly essential. Ginger has immune-modulating effects against viral infection. Ginger may help immune modulate immunosuppression caused by stress, auto-immune diseases, and nutritional deficiency.

 

References:

1. Qorbanpour, M., Fahim, T., Javandel, F., Nosrati, M., Paz, E., Seidavi, A., Ragni, M., Laudadio, V., Tufarelli, V. (2018). Effect of Dietary Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) and Multi-Strain Probiotic on Growth and Carcass Traits, Blood Biochemistry, Immune Responses and Intestinal Microflora in Broiler Chickens. Animals, 8(7), 117.

2. An, S., Liu, G., Guo, X., An, Y., & Wang, R. (2019). Ginger extract enhances antioxidant ability and immunity of layers. Animal Nutrition.

3. Carrasco, F. R., Schmidt, G., Romero, A. L., Sartoretto, J. L., Caparroz-Assef, S. M., Bersani-Amado, C. A., & Cuman, R. K. N. (2009). Immunomodulatory activity of Zingiber officinale Roscoe, Salvia Officinalis. and Syzygium aromaticum. essential oils: evidence for humor- and cell-mediated responses. Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 61(7), 961–967.

4. Zhou, H., Deng, Y., & Xie, Q. (2006). The modulatory effects of the volatile oil of ginger on the cellular immune response in vitro and in vivo in mice. Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 105(1-2), 301–305.

5. Ahui, M. L. B., Champy, P., Ramadan, A., Pham Van, L., Araujo, L., Brou André, K., Damotte, D., Kati-Coulibaly, S., Offoumou, M. A., Dy, M., Thieblemont, N, Herbelin, A. (2008). Ginger prevents Th2-mediated immune responses in a mouse model of airway inflammation. International Immunopharmacology, 8(12), 1626–1632.

6. Khan, A. M., Shahzad, M., Raza Asim, M. B., Imran, M., & Shabbir, A. (2014). Zingiber officinaleameliorates allergic asthma via suppression of Th2-mediated immune response. Pharmaceutical Biology, 53(3), 359–367.

7. Yamprasert, R., Chanvimalueng, W., Mukkasombut, N., & Itharat, A. (2020). Ginger extract versus Loratadine in the treatment of allergic rhinitis: a randomized controlled trial. BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies, 20(1).

8. Zhu, H., Hu, M., Wang, D., Xu, G., Yin, X., Liu, X., Ding, M., Han, L. (2020). Mixed polysaccharides derived from Shiitake mushroom, Poriacocos, Ginger, and Tangerine peel enhanced protective immune responses in mice induced by inactivated influenza vaccine. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 126, 110049.

9. Mansoor, K., Qadan, F., Schmidt, M., Qinna, N., Badr, M., & Matalka, K. (2018). A Functional Food Mixture "Protector" Reinforces the Protective Immune Parameters against Viral Flu Infection in Mice. Nutrients, 10(6), 743.