Specifically, the researchers looked at lupus, which attacks the body’s own immune system, along with antiphospholipid syndrome (often associated with lupus), which causes blood clots. Both the diseases cause widespread inflammation and ravage organs overtime. In mice with either of the disease, 6-gingerol stopped the neutrophil extracellular trap release caused by the diseases’ production of autoantibodies.
“Neutrophil extracellular traps, or NETs, come from white blood cells called neutrophils,” explained lead author Ramadan Ali, Ph.D in a press release. “These sticky spider-web like structures are formed when autoantibodies interact with receptors on the neutrophil’s surface.”
The webs, according to Ali, play a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of lupus and antiphospholipid syndrome in which they set off autoantibody formation and contribute to clots in blood vessels and other damage.
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