Anti-Arthritic Effects of Ginger Dietary Supplements

描述（由申请人提供）：姜在印度草药和传统中医中用于治疗炎症已有几个世纪的历史。在美国，自从COX-2抑制剂从市场上移除以来，生姜膳食补充剂用于关节炎治疗受到了越来越多的关注。然而，关于生姜或其成分可能的抗关节炎作用的科学数据很少，并且由于测试材料没有充分描述，对现有数据的解释很困难。因此，目前没有信息支持使用生姜膳食补充剂来预防或治疗关节炎。我们提出的研究将填补这一空白，利用J Funk博士（使用动物模型研究炎症的专家）和B Timmermann博士（天然产物化学家专家）之间正在进行的成功合作。根据我们的初步数据显示，两种具有良好特征的生姜提取物具有深远的抗关节炎作用，该项目的具体目标是：(1)分离粗姜提取物，并对其进行化学和生物学表征，然后使用类风湿性关节炎（一种特别严重的炎症性关节炎）的动物模型进行体内测试，以确定(2)作为膳食补充剂口服时粗姜提取物的抗关节炎功效。以及(3)其潜在毒性和(4)关节保护作用机制。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Ginger has been used for centuries in Ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine to treat inflammation. In the United States, ginger dietary supplement use for arthritis treatment has received increased attention since the removal of COX-2 inhibitors from the market. However, very little scientific data is available regarding possible anti- arthritic effects of ginger or its components and interpretation of existing data is difficult because test materials were not adequately described. Therefore, no information is currently available to support the use of ginger dietary supplements for arthritis prevention or treatment. Our proposed studies will fill this void, taking advantage of an on-going successful collaboration between Dr. J Funk, an expert in the use of animal models for the study of inflammation, and Dr. B Timmermann, an expert natural products chemist. Based on our preliminary data demonstrating an profound anti-arthritic effect of two well characterized ginger extracts, the specific aims of this project are to (1) isolate and chemically and biologically characterize a crude ginger extract which will then be tested in vivo using an animal model of rheumatoid arthritis, a particularly severe form of inflammatory arthritis, to determine (2) the anti-arthritic efficacy of the crude ginger extract when administered orally as a dietary supplement, as well as (3) its potential toxicity and (4) mechanisms of joint-protective action. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Information obtained from these translational studies will form an evidence base to guide the public's rational use and choice of ginger dietary supplements for the treatment of joint inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis and aid in the design of future appropriate clinical trials. Moreover, mechanistic evidence of bone protective effects of ginger may also support the study of its use for the prevention of other prevalent bone diseases, such as osteoporosis.