Medicina 2024 : alcune recenti applicazioni

Per attenuare i sintomi di nausea indotta da chemioterapia, unitamente alla camomilla (1).

La chemioterapia ha gravi effetti collaterali che possono essere dannosi per il paziente, ovvero disturbi di nausea e vomito. Per ridurre gli effetti collaterali della chemioterapia, molti pazienti nel nostro paese scelgono la terapia a base di erbe. Una di queste è l'assunzione di zenzero. Lo scopo di questo articolo è quello di esplorare l'efficacia dello zenzero per superare la nausea e il vomito causati dalla chemioterapia nelle pazienti affette da cancro al seno. Il metodo utilizzato è una revisione sistematica. I risultati dello studio suggeriscono che lo zenzero è efficace solo per ridurre la nausea, ma non abbassa la frequenza del vomito causato dalla chemioterapia nei pazienti affetti da cancro al seno.

Inserito nella gomma da masticare, viene ritenuta una forma ammissibile per l'utilizzazione come un moderno sistema di somministrazione di farmaci in particolare come aiuto a problemi gastrointestinali (3).

La polvere di zenzero può alleviare il dolore e l'infiammazione indotta dall'artrosi del ginocchio (4).

Lo zenzero ha una notevole quantità di effetti antiossidanti, antinfiammatori, antiemetici e antitumorali. In particolare, studi in vivo e in vitro hanno stabilito che i componenti fenolici presenti nello zenzero, in particolare 6-gingerolo e 6-shogaol inducono l'apoptosi e autofagia e inibiscono le metastasi (5).

Bibliografia_______________________________________________________________

(1) Sanaati F, Najafi S, Kashaninia Z, Sadeghi M. Effect of Ginger and Chamomile on Nausea and Vomiting Caused by Chemotherapy in Iranian Women with Breast Cancer. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2016;17(8):4125-9. 

Abstract. Background: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) places a significant burden on the patient. Herbal agents are the most commonly complementary therapies used among the public. This study was done to determine the effect of ginger and chamomile capsules on nausea and vomiting in cases undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer (BC)....Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, it should be declared that taking ginger capsules (1 g/day) might relieve CINV safely. Nurses dealing directly with cancer patients should be responsible for providing educational programs for patients and their families about how to deal with their drug regimens and associated side effects.

(2) Fitriyanti D, Sulung R. Effectiveness of ginger to overcome nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Can Oncol Nurs J. 2020 Jan 1;30(1):3-5. doi: 10.5737/2368807630135. PMID: 33118988; PMCID: PMC7585706.

(4) Aslani A, Ghannadi A, Rostami F. Design, formulation, and evaluation of ginger medicated chewing gum. Adv Biomed Res. 2016 Jul 29;5:130. doi: 10.4103/2277-9175.187011. 

Abstract. Background: Various ginger compounds improve gastrointestinal problems and motion sickness. The main effects of ginger allocate to some phenolics such as gingerols and shogaols that act as their active agents. Chewing gums are among convenient dosage forms which patients prefer due to their advantages. Hence, this study tried to design, formulate, and evaluate ginger chewing gum of favorable taste and texture to avoid motion sickness and have gastro-protective and anti-oxidant effect....Conclusion: Ginger chewing gum comprises admissible properties to be used as a modern drug delivery system due to its advantageous results in motion sickness. It passed all the specified tests for an acceptable chewing gum. Thus, it may be successfully produced to help GI problems.

(5) Mozaffari-Khosravi H, Naderi Z, Dehghan A, Nadjarzadeh A, Fallah Huseini H. Effect of Ginger Supplementation on Proinflammatory Cytokines in Older Patients with Osteoarthritis: Outcomes of a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial. J Nutr Gerontol Geriatr. 2016 Jul-Sep;35(3):209-18. doi: 10.1080/21551197.2016.1206762. 

Abstract. There is limited evidence that ginger powder consumption can relieve pain and inflammation due to specific anti-inflammatory phytochemical constitutents. This study investigates the effect of ginger supplementation on proinflammatory factors in participants (n = 120) of a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled 3-month clinical trial investigating knee osteoarthritis. Patients were randomly assigned to one of two groups: the ginger group (GG) or the placebo group (PG). Administered daily for 3 months, participants in the GG intervention received capsules containing 500 mg of ginger powder, while PG participants received capsules filled with 500 mg starch. Serum samples collected at baseline and 3 months were analyzed for serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β). At baseline, proinflammatory cytokine concentrations did not differ by group. However, at 3 months, both cytokines decreased in the GG relative to the PG. The results of this study indicate that ginger supplementation may have a promising benefits for knee osteoarthritis and may, therefore, may warrant further study.

(6) Kaur IP, Deol PK, Kondepudi KK, Bishnoi M. Anticancer Potential of Ginger: Mechanistic and Pharmaceutical Aspects. Curr Pharm Des. 2016;22(27):4160-72. doi: 10.2174/1381612822666160608115350. 

Abstract. Background: Multifaceted pathologies like cancers involve multiple targets. Failure of current treatment options modulating specific tumor target, evokes need for alternate approach of either combining several smart drugs or design a dirty drug that may simultaneously influence multiple targets to trigger a cascade of protective events complementing one another....Conclusion: Hence, amalgamating the rational formulation design with observational folklore data available on herbal drugs/agents, complemented with scientific and precise in vitro and in vivo findings can bring out a class of safe, cheap, and effective curatives which can address multitarget diseases like cancers.

(5) Saxena R, Rida PC, Kucuk O, Aneja R. Ginger augmented chemotherapy: A novel multitarget nontoxic approach for cancer management. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2016 Jun;60(6):1364-73. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201500955. Epub 2016 Mar 11. PMID: 26842968.