Ginger-induced Ileal Motility is Modified by Stress: Sex Differences in Rats

Abstract

Abstract:Ginger is widely used as a spice and also an effective herbal medicine to treat gastrointestinal disorders. On the other hand, stress can induce various modulation of digestive motility. Here, we investigated ginger effects on stress-induced motility of the isolated ileum in male and female rats, in vitro. Rats (Wistar, SPF, 7-12 weeks of age, 148-393 g BW) were divided into Control (1G) and 3G groups. 3G stress (every day for 10 min) was loaded by centrifugal apparatus for 1, 3, 15 and 30 days. After the stress loading at each day, a 1 cm-long section of the ileum was isolated under barbiturate anesthesia and fixed to a Magnus-type chamber filled with Tyrode solution. Ileal movements were observed for 60 s following application of zingerone, which is also called vanillylacetone and a key component of the pungency of ginger (0.1-10 µM). Spontaneous motility movements with phasic and tonic patterns were observed in the ileum. The former was a peristalsis-like movement and the latter was a slow fluctuation of the baseline. Ginger induced enhanced effects on the rhythmic phasic motility in relation to amplitude. In the female, 3G gravity loading had no effects on the ginger-induced motility, however, suppressive effect of the ginger-induced phasic movements was clearly observed at day 15 in the male. The present study showed that gravity stress changed ginger-induced effects on phasic ileal motility in the male, but not in the female, indicating that sex differences were observed in the ginger effects modulated by stress loading.

Thiamine and Quinine Differently Inhibit the Early Phase of Acetylcholine-Dependent Contraction of Mouse Ileum <i>in vitro</i>

“…Previous studies using isolated intestinal tract have reported that intrinsic pacemaker activity originates from ICCs of the Auerbach plexus, which are electrically coupled to smooth muscle cells [20,22]. ICCs play a major role in intestinal contraction without the involvement of motor neurons, hormones, or inflammatory mediators, and have been suggested to be modulated by several nutrients [23][24][25][26]. Another previous study reported an inhibitory action of caffeine on the smooth muscle contraction [27].…”