Studies on chemoprotective effect of ginger extract in diethylnitrosamine induced hepatocarcinogenesis in rats

The present work was designed to evaluate anticarcinogenic effect of ginger extract (GE) in diethylnitrosamine (DEN) induced hepatocarcinogenesis in rats. Fifty one male Wistar albino rats were randomly allotted to four groups. DEN (0.01%) was given in drinking water ad libitum and GE (50 mg/kg BW) was administered in olive oil per os either alone or in combination for 90 days. Histopathology of liver sections revealed complete development of HCC in all animals of DEN treated group, while varying stages of progression of tumour in DEN+GE treated rats. Expression pattern of biomolecular markers such as PCNA, Bax and Bcl-2 were studied in liver sections to evaluate induction of HCC by DEN and chemoprotective activity of GE. Immunohistochemistry revealed overexpression of PCNA and Bcl-2 and reduced expression of Bax in DEN treated group. Concurrent treatment with GE significantly downregulated expression of PCNA and Bcl-2 and upregulated Bax expression. To conclude, present study demonstrated the anticancer properties of ginger extract in the form of partial chemoprotection with reduced tumor incidences, halted growth of altered hepatocellular foci, reduced cellular proliferation and induced apoptosis in HCC induced rats.