Ginger Compounds Help Treat Asthma: Study

Purified components of ginger may have the properties that help asthma patients breathe more easily, according to a study from Columbia University.

"Asthma has become more prevalent in recent years, but despite an improved understanding of what causes asthma and how it develops, during the past 40 years few new treatment agents have been approved for targeting asthma symptoms," said lead author Elizabeth Townsend, PhD, post-doctoral research fellow in the Columbia University Department of Anesthesiology. "In our study, we demonstrated that purified components of ginger can work synergistically with β-agonists to relax ASM."

One of the common asthma medications is beta-agonists (β-agonists), which relaxes the airway smooth muscle (ASM) tissue. In this study, researchers looked at whether the components of ginger could enhance the relaxing effects of bronchodilators.

To prove their finding, the researchers focused on human ASM tissue samples and allowed those samples to contract by exposing them to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitting compound that causes bronchoconstriction.

Later, the researchers mixed β-agonist isoproterenol with three separate components of ginger. These components consist of 6-gingerol, 8-gingerol or 6-shogaol. The contracted tissue samples were exposed to the three mixtures as well as unadulterated isoproternol. They carefully recorded and compared the relaxation responses.

The researchers noticed that the tissues that were treated with the mixture of purified ginger component and isoproterenol showed a greater relaxation when compared to those that were treated with isoproterenol.  Among the three ginger components, the most effective component in relaxing the effects of β-agonist was 6-shagaol.

Researchers say that by understanding how these ginger compounds affect the airway, they could explore their uses to relieve asthma symptoms.