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

Figure 4

Administration of 6-gingerol improved survival and bacterial clearance to intranasal P. aeruginosa infection in postseptic mice. (a) Schematic diagram for induction of secondary bacterial pneumonia. (b) Mice were subjected to CLP using 29-gauge needles and punctured once. From 5 days before CLP to the end of the experiment, mice were fed drinking water containing 3.5 μg/ml of 6-gingerol every day, while control mice were fed drinking water containing 0.01% ethanol. On Day 4 post-CLP, mice were challenged with an intranasal administration of CFU of P. aeruginosa. Mouse survival was monitored every 24 h for 14 days. The curve comparison with the log-rank (Mantel-Cox) test revealed statistically significant differences as shown on the graph (). After CLP, survivors on Day 4 were secondarily challenged by intranasal instillation of P. aeruginosa (). (c, d) Bacterial load was determined 24 h after instillation, by quantitative cultures of BAL fluid (c) and lung homogenates (d). (e) Lung damage was assessed by microscopic examinations of hematoxylin and eosin-stained lung sections from control and 6-gingerol-treated mice 24 hours after intranasal inoculation. Data represent the . Data are representative of at least three independent experiments in which each group contained six mice. Statistically significant differences are shown on the graph.

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