Study on the cytotoxic effect of 10-gingerol, a derivative of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), on acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines

Chemotherapy, as the most common way of cancer treatment, has many side effects that make it difficult to continue the treatment process. The studies show that the use of medicinal plants alone or in combination with the chemotherapy drugs can reduce the harmful effects of chemotherapy. This study aimed at investigating the effect of 10-gingerol, as one of the major derivatives of ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe), on the acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines. The acute lymphoblastic cell lines (CCRF-CEM, R-CCRF-CEM, Nalm-6, and RN95) were treated with increasing concentrations of 10-gingerol after drawing their growth curves. The survival percentage was evaluated by the MTT assay. In addition, the trypan blue staining method was used to evaluate the rate of cell death and confirm the results of MTT assay. To explore the biological processes, molecular function, and cellular components related to the 10-gingerol target genes, a functional annotation analysis was performed using the gene ontology (GO) and Enrichr (a comprehensive gene set enrichment analysis tool) database. The Graph Pad Prism 6 software was also used for statistical analyses. The results of this study indicated that 10-gingerol had a cytotoxic effect on R-CCRF-CEM, Nalm-6, and RN95 cell lines significantly (p < /em> ˂ 0.05). This effect was stronger in R-CCRF-CEM and Nalm-6 than in CCRF-CEM at the higher concentrations. The GO analyses also recognized the apoptosis as the most important biological process associated with 10-gingerol. In the present study, for the first time, the cytotoxic effect of 10-gingerol on the acute lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines was demonstrated.