Inflammation and oxidative stress play important roles in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke, traumatic injury, Parkinson disease, and Alzheimer disease. Paeonol, a natural compound extracted from Moutan cortex, is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidative agent. The aim of this study was to investigate the neuroprotective mechanisms of paeonol on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation in rat primary microglia and 6-hydroxydopamine–induced oxidative damage in cortical neurons. In LPS-treated microglia, paeonol attenuated the overexpression of inducible nitric oxide synthase and cyclooxygenase 2, leading to the decrease in nitric oxide and prostaglandin E₂ production, respectively. Paeonol also suppressed LPS-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal–regulated kinase and Jun N-terminal kinase. In addition, LPS-stimulated NADPH oxidase activation and reactive oxygen species production were attenuated by paeonol. Paeonol-induced upregulation of heme oxygenase 1 was also observed. Moreover, paeonol attenuated LPS-treated microglia culture medium–induced neuron cells death. Posttreatment with paeonol also reduced inflammatory responses in LPS-activated microglia and increased cell viability in LPS-treated microglia culture medium–treated neurons. Furthermore, in 6-hydroxydopamine–treated cortical neurons, paeonol not only decreased reactive oxygen species production but also increased cell viability, superoxide dismutase activity, and the antiapoptotic protein B-cell lymphoma 2 expression. Taken together, the present results suggest that paeonol might be a potential neuroprotective agent via inhibiting microglia-mediated inflammation and oxidative stress–induced neuronal damage.

Ginger has many bioactive compounds with pharmacological activities. However, few studies are known about these bioactive compounds activity in chemoresistant cells. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anticancer properties of ginger phytochemicals in docetaxel-resistant human prostate cancer cells in vitro. In this study, we isolated 6-gingerol, 10-gingerol, 4-shogaol, 6-shogaol, 10-shogaol, and 6-dehydrogingerdione from ginger. Further, the antiproliferation activity of these compounds was examined in docetaxel-resistant (PC3R) and sensitive (PC3) human prostate cancer cell lines. 6-gingerol, 10-gingerol, 6-shogaol, and 10-shogaol at the concentration of 100 μM significantly inhibited the proliferation in PC3R but 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol, and 10-shogaol displayed similar activity in PC3. The protein expression of multidrug resistance associated protein 1 (MRP1) and glutathione-S-transferase (GSTπ) is higher in PC3R than in PC3. In summary, we isolated the bioactive compounds from ginger. Our results showed that 6-gingerol, 10-gingerol, 6-shogaol, and 10-shogaol inhibit the proliferation of PC3R cells through the downregulation of MRP1 and GSTπ protein expression.