ABSTRACT
The spice Zingiber officinale or ginger possesses antioxidant activity and neuroprotective effects. The effects of this traditional herbal medicine on 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine [MDMA] induced neurotoxicity have not yet been studied. The present study considers the effects of Zingiber officinale on MDMA-induced spatial memory impairment and apoptosis in the hippocampus of male rats. In this experimental study, 21 adult male Sprague Dawley rats [200-250 g] were classified into three groups [control, MDMA, and MDMA plus ginger]. The groups were intraperitoneally administered 10 mg/kg MDMA, 10 mg/kg MDMA plus 100 mg/kg ginger extract, or 1 cc/kg normal saline as the control solution for one week [n=7 per group]. Learning memory was assessed by Morris water maze [MWM] after the last administration. Finally, the brains were removed to study the cell number in the cornu ammonis [CA1] hippocampus by light microscope, Bcl-2 by immunoblotting, and Bax expression by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction [RT-PCR]. Data was analyzed using SPSS 16 software and a one-way ANOVA test. Escape latency and traveled distances decreased significantly in the MDMA plus ginger group relative to the MDMA group [p<0.001]. Cell number increased in the MDMA plus ginger group in comparison to the MDMA group. Down-regulation of Bcl-2 and up-regulation of Bax were observed in the MDMA plus ginger group in comparison to the MDMA group [p<0.05]. Our findings suggest that ginger consumption may lead to an improvement of MDMA-induced neurotoxicity