Protective effects of ginger root extract on Alzheimer disease-induced behavioral dysfunction in rats

The aim of this study was to assess the ability of a traditional Chinese medicinal ginger root extract (GRE) to prevent behavioral dysfunction in the Alzheimer disease (AD) rat model. Rat AD models were established by an operation (OP) in which rats were treated with a one-time intra-cerebroventricuIar injection of amyloid β-protein (Aβ) and continuous gavage of aluminum chloride every day for 4 weeks. GRE was administered intra-gastrically to rats. After 35 days, learning and memory were assessed in all of the rats. Brain sections were processed for immunohistochemistry and Hematoxylin & Eosin (H&E) and Nissl staining. The latency to show significant memory deficits was shorter in the group that received OP with a high dose of GRE (HG)(OP+HG) than in the groups that received OP with a low or moderate dose of GRE (LG, MG)(OP+LG, OP+MG) (p<0.05). The expression of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) in the OP+MG and OP+LG groups was up-regulated compared to the OP+HG groups (p<0.05). The rats in the OP+HG groups had lower levels of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and malondialdehyde (MDA) expression than the rats in the OP+MG and OP+LG groups (p<0.05). This experiment demonstrates that the administration of GRE reverses behavioral dysfunction and prevents AD-like symptoms in our rat model.