Edible ginger-derived nanoparticles could alleviate symptons of Crohn’s disease and ulceratice colitis, the two main forms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), researchers claim.
The research team, led by Dr Didier Merlin alongside the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University, report their findings in the September 2016 issue of Biomaterials.
They tested three Ginger-derived nanoparticles (GDNP), which had been isolated from ginger juice and purified using a sucrose gradient ultracentrifugation method.
“GDNPs mainly accumulated at the 8/30% (band 1) and 30/45% (band 2) interfaces of the sucrose gradient; a faint band was also detected at the 45/60% interface (band 3), the study reports.
The particles were fed to lab mice, and appeared to be nontoxic. They had significant therapeutic effects, with GDNP 2 seemingly the most beneficial.
The study shows they were absorbed mainly by cells in the lining of the intestines, where IBD inflammation occurs.
The particles were also shown to reduce acute colitis and prevented chronic colitis and colitis-associated cancer, and they enhanced intestinal repair.
This story is reprinted from material from Nutra Ingredients Asia, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
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