Dietary ginger and turmeric rhizomes prevent oxidative stress and restore delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase activity in L-NAME treated rats

Abstract

The inhibition of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) activity has been implicated in the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) thereby depleting antioxidant status. Thus, the current study investigated the effect of ginger and turmeric rhizomes on delta-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (δ-ALA-D) activity in L-NAME treated rats. Animals were treated with dietary turmeric or ginger (4%) before induction with nitric oxide (NO) inhibitor (L-NAME, 40 mg/kg/day). The results revealed that ginger and turmeric rhizomes caused a significant (p < .05) increased in renal and hepatic δ-ALA-D activity as well as enzymatic (superoxide dismutase [SOD] and catalase [CAT] activities) and nonenzymatic antioxidant (nonprotein thiols) levels with a concomittant decreased in renal (creatinine and urea) and hepatic (AST, ALT, and γ-glutamyltranspeptidase) function biomarkers in L-NAME treated rats. This finding suggests that the increase in δ-ALA-D activity and antioxidants status by dietary ginger and turmeric rhizomes could provide a possible mechanism of action for their antihypertensive potential. Practical applications Ginger and turmeric rhizomes have been reported to prevent hypertension via depletion of ROS but the exact mechanism remains unclear. However, the present findings revealed an increase in δ-ALA-D activity and antioxidants status by these rhizomes which could provide a possible mechanism of action for their antihypertensive benefit.