The Immunomodulatory effects of Zingiber officinale (Ginger): A Systematic Review

Recently, the available synthetic drugs to treat immune related diseases have been reported to produce many side effects to the consumer. For instance, corticosteroids are used to reduce inflammation during infection but able to cause adverse effects such as bruising, muscle weakness, pathologic fractures, weight gain and sleep disturbances. As an alternative for a safer alternative for preventive and treatment agents with low risk of side effect, Zingiber officinale which is known as ginger or ‘halia’ in Malaysia has a good prospect. It is because this herb is used as traditional medicine among community to treat several ailments, including immune and infectious diseases. Several studies have shown that crude extracts and bioactive components of Z. officinale possessed diverse pharmacological properties such as anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant and immunomodulatory. The objective of this research is to find out the effects of Z. officinale on the immunomodulatory activities from the selected previous studies from year 2000 to 2020. Briefly, this study involves 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that determined immunomodulatory activities of Z. officinale. The results of systematic analysis showed that Z. officinale exhibits immunomodulatory activities for both in vitro and in vivo evaluations. However, some limitation should be aware with the detailed reporting on the controls used in the included studies. Future well-designed RCTs with detailed reporting on the controls are required for providing additional data to prove the consequences of Z. officinale on the immunomodulatory as well as safety data of consuming this plant.