Therapeutic effect of ginger on gastritis: Regulation of STAT3/MAPK signaling pathway and gastrointestinal hormone balance

Gastritis is a disease caused by multifactorial etiology. Ginger a widely used natural spice, possesses various beneficial properties, including antioxidant, neuroprotective, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and immu-nomodulatory. More and more studies have shown that ginger has significant efficacy in treating gastritis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ginger in the treatment of gastritis and its mechanism. The chemical composition of ginger was determined by UPLC-HRMS. The biological state and intestinal propulsion rate in mice were measured. Serum levels of gastrointestinal hormone were measured using ELISA. Histopathological examination was performed to evaluate gastric tissue damage. Additionally, stomach tissues of mice from different groups were selected for transcriptomic analysis. The differentially expressed genes(DEGs) were identified. PCR verification of DEGs was then performed to explore key targets. Our findings demonstrated that ginger reversed the rate of small intestinal charcoal end-propulsion, increased the levels of the gastrointestinal hormones and attenuated the histopathological damage of the stomach in a model of gastritis in mice. Transcriptomic analysis revealed DEGs predominantly expressed in primarily associated with signal fransduction, extracellour transduction, extracellular space, inflammatory response and the extracellular region. KEGG pathway analysis implicated the involvement of AGE-RAGE, MAPK signaling and potentially other pathways. In addition, real-time quantitative PCR validation of six selected DEGs showed that the genes (IL-6, STAT3, SOCS3, BDNF, TRPV4, and ICAM1) suggested their potential roles as key targets of ginger's therapeutic action in the treatment of gastritis. This study reveals potential mechanism of ginger in treating gastritis, which provides new ideas and techniques for the clinical application of ginger.