Ginger is a commonly used spice in cooking. In this study, we comprehensively evaluated the anti-inflammatory activities of ginger and its component
zingerone in
lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute systemic
inflammation in mice via nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) bioluminescent imaging. Ginger and
zingerone significantly suppressed LPS-induced NF-κB activities in cells in a dose-dependent manner, and the maximal inhibition (84.5% ± 3.5% and 96.2% ± 0.6%) was observed at 100 μg/mL ginger and
zingerone, respectively. Moreover, dietary ginger and
zingerone significantly reduced LPS-induced proinflammatory
cytokine production in sera by 62.9% ± 18.2% and 81.3% ± 6.2%, respectively, and NF-κB bioluminescent signals in whole body by 26.9% ± 14.3% and 38.5% ± 6.2%, respectively. In addition, ginger and
zingerone suppressed LPS-induced NF-κB-driven luminescent intensities in most organs, and the maximal inhibition by ginger and
zingerone was observed in small intestine. Immunohistochemical staining further showed that ginger and
zingerone decreased interleukin-1β (IL-1β)-, CD11b-, and p65-positive areas in jejunum. In conclusion, our findings suggested that ginger and
zingerone were likely to be broad-spectrum
anti-inflammatory agents in most organs that suppressed the activation of NF-κB, the production of IL-1β, and the infiltration of inflammatory cells in mice.