Pretreatment with 6-Gingerol Ameliorates Sepsis-Induced Immune Dysfunction by Regulating the Cytokine Balance and Reducing Lymphocyte Apoptosis

Figure 2

Administration of 6-gingerol increased immune cell infiltration and bacteria clearance and reduced cell apoptosis. Mice were i.p. injected with control or 6-gingerol (50 μg). After 2 days, mice were subjected to CLP using 26-gauge needles with two punctures. (a–c) Bacterial load (a), cell recruitment to peritoneum (b), and cell apoptosis (c) were determined at 24 h after CLP, as described in Materials and Methods. (d) Mice were i.p. injected with control or 6-gingerol (50 μg) on Day 2 before CLP and then injected with clodronate liposomes to deplete macrophages. After depletion, mice were subjected to CLP using 26-gauge needles with single punctures on Day 0. Twenty hours after CLP, bacterial load was evaluated by colony plating assay. (e) Macrophages were preincubated with ROS inhibitor DPI (10 μM) for 1 h before 6-gingerol (1 μg/ml) treatment. Bacterial killing activities (left panel) and ROS production (right panel) by macrophages against E. coli were determined. Data are the means and standard errors of means obtained for individual mice. Data are representative of at least three independent experiments in which each group contained four to six mice. Statistically significant differences are shown on the graph. NS: not significant.

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