We evaluated the effects of Alpinia katsumadai Hayata (AKH, Zingiberaceae) extract on the production of nitric oxide (NO) and prostaglandin E(2) (PGE(2)) in RAW 264.7 cells, thymus- and-activation-regulated chemokine (TARC/CCL17) in HaCaT cells, and histamine level in HMC-1 cells. In an in vivo experiment, atopic dermatitis was induced by topical application of house dust mites for 4 weeks, and...

Abstract In plants, viral diseases are second only to fungal in terms of occurrence, and cause substantial damage agricultural crops. The aqueous extracts shell ginger, Alpinia zerumbet exhibit inhibitory effects against virus infections belonging the Solanaceae family. this study, we isolated an anti-plant-virus molecule from using a conventional method involving combination reversed phase col...

BACKGROUND In tuberculosis (TB), the steadily increasing bacterial resistance to existing drugs and latent TB continue to be major concerns. A combination of conventional drugs and plant derived therapeutics can serve to expand the antimicrobial spectrum, prevent the emergence of drug resistant mutants and minimize toxicity. Alpinia galanga, used in various traditional medicines, possesses broa...

The pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity of the rhizome of Alpinia officinarum (AO) and its antihyperlipidemic activity were measured. When the water extract of AO was fractionated stepwise with organic solvents, the ethyl acetate fraction exhibited the most potent inhibition. 3-Methylethergalangin was isolated from that fraction as an inhibitor of pancreatic lipase with an IC(50) value of 1.3...

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a severe neurodegenerative disorder characterized by β-amyloid (Aβ) plaques, neurofibrillary tangles, neuronal death, progressive cognitive impairment and memory loss. β-amyloid peptides (Aβ) are major compositions of so-called senile plaques, which are hallmarks of AD and contribute to AD progression. Therefore, it is important to discover therapeutics against Aβ-in...

Alpinia officinarum has been confirmed to possess bioactivities against some pests. In this work, a sample was obtained from A. officinarum rhizomes by supercritical fluid CO₂ extraction (SFE). According to GC-MS analysis, the main chemical components for SFE-sample included benzylacetone (26.77%), 1,7-diphenyl-5-hydroxy-3-heptanone (17.78%), guaiacylacetone (10.03%) and benzenepropanal (7.42%)...

This study was designed to examine the in vitro antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanol extracts of rhizoma Alpinia officinarum (small galanga) from China. The essential oil was analyzed by gas chromatography/ mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and 46 constituents were identified. Methanol extract from rhizoma A. officinarum was fractionated by chromatography of silica gel using ethyl a...

Nectar-robbing has the potential to strongly affect male and female reproductive fitness of plants. One example of nectar theft is that shown by striped-squirrels (Tamiops swinhoei) on a number of ginger species, including Alpinia roxburghii and A. kwangsiensis (Zingiberaceae). In this study, we used a fluorescent dye as a pollen analogue, and measured fruit and seed output, to test the effect ...