Short term effects of ginger on quality of life, disease activity index, inflammatory and oxidative stress factors in ulcerative colitis

Background: Chronic inflammation and oxidative stress are the two essential factors determining ulcerative colitis (UC) onset and severity status. In present study, we aimed to investigate short-term effects of ginger (Zingiber officinale) as a well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent on the quality of life, disease activity index and some of inflammatory and oxidative stress factors in patients with active mild to moderate UC. Methods: This study was a double blind placebo controlled randomized clinical trial conducted in nutrition and diet therapy clinic of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran, from October 2017 to June 2018. Forty-six patients with active mild to moderate UC daily consumed four capsules of 500 mg dried ginger powder or similar placebo through eating their meals for 6 weeks. Before and after intervention, we analyzed patient´s scores of disease activity index, by simple clinical colitis activity index questionnaire (SCCAIQ) as well as their quality of life using inflammatory bowel disease questionnaire-9 (IBDQ-9). We also measured serum concentrations of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), high sensitive (hs)-CRP and nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) in fasted blood samples of each participant. Additionally, anthropometric and dietary intake values of energy, macro/micronutrients and minerals of all of participants were assessed at the same time. Results: While the mean of anthropometric measures and dietary intake values remained unchanged during the study, MDA level decreased in ginger group (P=0.04) compared with placebo group. Additionally, ginger supplementation successfully lowered serum levels of TNF-α and disease activity index after 6 weeks of intervention compared with baseline in ginger consumer group, however the increase of quality of life score was not statistically significant in mentioned group versus baseline values. No significant change in other study outcomes was observed at the end of 6 weeks within and between groups. Conclusion: Our data indicates that two grams per day supplementation with dried ginger powder can reduce oxidative stress level of patients with active mild to moderate UC.