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Anti-diarrhea effects of polysaccharides from <i>Zingiber officinale</i> rhizome on a rat diarrhea model


Dong-Mei Su
Jun-Biao Long
Xin-Ping Liu
Shu-Bin Li

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the anti-diarrhea effects of polysaccharides extracted from the rhizome of Zingiber officinale (ZRP) on diarrhea induced by folium sennae in rats.

Methods: Response surface methodology (RSM) based on the Box–Benhnken design (BBD) was performed to optimize ZRP extraction. Thereafter, experimental diarrheal rats induced by treatment with folium sennae were used to investigate the anti-diarrhea effects of ZRP. Diarrhea index, dilute stool rate, gastric residual rate, and intestinal propulsive rate were investigated. In addition, the levels of brain-gut peptides including cholecystokinin (CCK), ghrelin, and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in the small intestine of rats with diarrhea were determined using commercial ELISA kits.

Results: Optimal ZRP extraction was obtained with an extraction time of 1.4 h, ratio of water to the raw material of 30 mL/g, and extracting 2 times. ZRP treatment at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg significantly decreased the dilute stool rate and diarrhea index (p < 0.05) and increased gastric residual rate (p < 0.01) dose-dependently. ZRP lowered intestinal propulsive rate (100 and 200 mg/kg, p < 0.01). All ZRP doses (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) also significantly reduced the levels of CCK (p < 0.01) but increased the levels of ghrelin and VIP (p < 0.01) in the small intestine.

Conclusion: ZRP exerts significant anti-diarrhea effects on experimental diarrheal rats induced by folium sennae via regulating the levels of brain-gut peptides. Further studies are required to determine if these effects can also be replicated in humans

Keywords: Zingiber officinale, Polysaccharide, Response surface methodology, Anti-diarrhea, Cholecystokinin, Ghrelin, and Vasoactive intestinal peptide


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eISSN: 1596-9827
print ISSN: 1596-5996