A study led by Veronika Somoza, director of the Leibniz Institute in Freising, Germany, showed that gingerol, a chemical compound found in fresh ginger, can have effects on the immune system and put cells on alert, preventing the action of invading bacteria.
This component is the one that makes the root of the plant “burn” more the flavor in the mouth. In the body, the TRPV1 receptor – present in cells – is responsible for identifying this stimulus.
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In Somoza’s research, gingerol enters the blood about 30 to 60 minutes after consuming 1 liter of ginger tea. By far the highest levels were achieved by gingerol, with plasma concentrations of approximately 7 to 17 micrograms per liter.
The search Gingerol facilitates CXCL8 secretion and ROS production in primary human neutrophils by targeting the TRPV1 channel, shows that this receptor was found in neutrophils, which are abundant leukocytes in human blood, corresponding to 60-70% of all circulating white blood cells. They are the first immune cells ‘recruited’ to sites of infection and to fight invading cells.
Then, the action of the compound in other types of cells was verified. Compared to control cells – such as neutrophils – those that were stimulated reacted about 30% more strongly to a peptide that mimics a bacterial infection.
“Our results support the assumption that ingesting ordinary amounts of ginger may be sufficient to modulate cellular responses of the immune system. However, there are still many unanswered questions at the molecular, epidemiological and medical levels that need to be addressed with the help of modern research on food and health”, concludes Somoza.
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