Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 Jan;39(1):67-76.
doi: 10.1007/s11011-023-01301-8. Epub 2023 Nov 15.

Ginger (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe) ameliorates ethanol-induced cognitive impairment by modulating NMDA and GABA-A receptors in rat hippocampus

Jiaojiao Wang  1 , Abolfazl Akbari  2 , Marjan Chardahcherik  3 , Jun Wu  4
Affiliations

Ginger (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe) ameliorates ethanol-induced cognitive impairment by modulating NMDA and GABA-A receptors in rat hippocampus

Jiaojiao Wang et al. Metab Brain Dis. 2024 Jan.

Abstract

Brain damage caused by ethanol abuse may lead to permanent damage, including severe dementia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ginger powder on ethanol-induced cognitive disorders by examining oxidative damage and inflammation status, and the gene expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA)-A receptors in the hippocampus of male rats. 24 adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated randomly to four groups as follows control, ethanol (4g/kg/day, by gavage), ginger (1g/kg/day, by gavage), and ginger-ethanol. At the end of the study, memory and learning were evaluated by the shuttle box test. Moreover, to explore mechanisms involved in ethanol-induced cognitive impairment and the protective effect of ginger, the expression of Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), NMDA receptor, and GABA-A receptor was measured along with inflammatory and oxidative biomarkers in the hippocampus tissue. The results showed that ethanol could induce cognitive impairment in the ethanol group, while pretreatment with ginger could reverse it. The gene expression of the NF-κB/ Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α/Interleukin (IL)-1β pathway and NMDA and GABA-A receptors significantly increased in the ethanol group compared to the control group. While pretreatment with ginger could significantly improve ethanol-induced cognitive impairment through these pathways in the ginger-ethanol group compared to the ethanol group (P < 0.05). It can be concluded that ginger powder could ameliorate ethanol-induced cognitive impairment by modulating the expression of NMDA and GABA-A receptors and inhibiting oxidative damage and the NF-κB/TNF-α/IL-1β pathway in the rat hippocampus.

Keywords: Cognitive Impairment; Ethanol; Ginger; Hippocampus; NMDA and GABA-A receptors.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Aebi H (1984) [13] Catalase in vitro. Methods Enzymol 105:121–126 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Ahmed Mustafa Z, Hamed Ali R, Rostum Ali D, Abdulkarimi R, Abdulkareem NK, Akbari A (2021) The combination of ginger powder and zinc supplement improves the fructose-induced metabolic syndrome in rats by modulating the hepatic expression of NF-κB, mTORC1, PPAR-α SREBP-1c, and Nrf2. J Food Biochem 45:e13546 - PubMed - DOI
    1. Akbari A, Jelodar G (2013) The effect of oxidative stress and antioxidants on men fertility. Zahedan J Res Med Sci 15:1–7
    1. Akbari A, Jelodar G, Nazifi S (2016) The proposed mechanisms of radio frequency waves (RFWs) on nervous system functions impairment. Comp Clin Pathol 25:1289–1301 - DOI
    1. Akbari A, Nasiri K, Heydari M, Mosavat SH, Iraji A (2017) The protective effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Zingiber officinale roscoe (Ginger) on ethanol-induced reproductive toxicity in male rats. J Evid Based Complementary Altern Med 22:609–617 - PubMed - PMC - DOI

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources