Beneficial Effects of 6-Gingerol on Fatty Pancreas Disease in High-Fat High-Fructose Diet-Induced Metabolic Syndrome Rat Model

Objective To examine the effects of 6-gingerol (6-G) in overcoming fatty pancreas disease of high-fat high-fructose (HFHF) diet-induced metabolic syndrome in rats. Materials and Methods Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 5 groups. The healthy-control group (normal diet, n = 5) received a standard diet. The HFHF group (HFHF; n = 20) received an HFHF diet and a single-dose intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (22 mg/kgBW) at week 8. Metabolic syndrome–confirmed rats received 6-G at doses of 50 (6-G 50, n = 5), 100 (6-G 100, n = 5), and 200 (6-G 200, n = 5) mg/kgBW, respectively, for 8 weeks. All rats were killed at week 16. Pancreatic tissue and blood samples were obtained for histological and amylase analysis. Results The serum amylase, MDA, mRNA of TNF-α, and IL-6 significantly increased, whereas GPx decreased in the HFHF group as compared with the normal diet group, respectively. Rats in the HFHF group showed pancreatic lipid accumulation and a decreased mean number of α- and β-cells in the pancreas. Meanwhile, all rats in 6-G at all dose groups showed improvement in all parameters and histopathological scores for lipid accumulation. Conclusions 6-Gingerol could attenuate pancreatic lipid accumulation and improve the cell number of α- and β-cells in the pancreas, leading to improvements in fatty pancreas disease.