The longevity of the population in the Okinawa Islands of Japan has been ascribed to genetic factors and the traditional Okinawa cuisine, which is low in calories and high in plant content. This diet includes shell ginger (Alpinia zerumbet (Pers.) B.L. Burtt & R.M. Sm) of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae). Due to its local popularity, Alpinia zerumbet has become the subject of a good deal o...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the acute and subacute toxicity (28 days) of the ethanol extract of Z. zerumbet rhizomes (EEZZ) via the oral route in Wistar rats of both sexes. In the acute toxicity study, Wistar rats were administered a single dose of 15 g kg(-1) of body weight by gavage, and were monitored for 14 days. EEZZ did not produce any toxic signs or deaths; the 50% lethal...

Background Neuropathic pain is a debilitating condition that severely affects the quality of life for those with this pain condition, and treatment for pain relief is greatly sought-after. Zerumbone (Zer), a sesquiterpene compound isolated from the rhizomes of a Southeast Asian ginger plant, Zingiber zerumbet (L.) Roscoe ex Smith. (Zingiberaceae), showed antinociceptive and antiinflammatory pro...

Locally advanced rectal cancers are treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiation therapy followed by surgery. In a minority (~20%) of patients, no tumor is present at the time of surgery; these patients with a complete pathologic response (pathCR) to neoadjuvant therapy have better treatment outcomes. Unfortunately, the inherent radioresistance of colorectal cancer (CRC) cells dictates that the majo...

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes is a serious problem for developed and developing countries. Prevention of prediabetes progression to type 2 diabetes with the use of natural products appears to be a cost-effective solution. Zingiber mioga has been used as a traditional food in Asia. Recent research has reported the potential health benefits of Zingiber mioga, but the blood glucose reducing effect ha...

Fluorescent protein based signaling probes are emerging as valuable tools to study cell signaling because of their ability to provide spatio- temporal information in non invasive live cell mode. Previously, multiple fluorescent protein probes were employed to characterize key events of apoptosis in diverse experimental systems. We have employed a live cell image based approach to visualize the ...

  We previously reported that zerumbone, a sesquiterpene found in Zingiber zerumbet SMITH, showed notable cancer preventive effects in various organs of experimental rodents. This agent up-regulated nuclear factor-E2-related factor (Nrf2)-dependent expressions of anti-oxidative and xenobiotics-metabolizing enzymes, leading to an increased self-defense capacity. On the other hand, zerumbone mark...

References 1. Rahman S, Salehin F, Iqbal A: In vitro antioxidant and anticancer activity of young Zingiber offincinale against human breast carcinoma cell lines. BMC Complement Altern Med 2011, 11:76. 2. Ghasemzadeh A, Jaafar HZE: Antioxidant potential and anticancer activity of young ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) grown under different CO2 concentration. J Medicinal Plants Research 2011, ...