Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Lipid disorders are the considerable cause and main reason for development of cardiovascular and atherosclerotic disease in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Ginger has the anti-inflammatory and hypolipidemic effect. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Ginger powder on lipid profile in rheumatoid arthritis patients.

Methods: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted on 72 rheumatoid arthritis referred to rheumatologic clinic of Urmia Emam Khomeini Hospital. Patients were divided randomly into 2 groups, intervention group (receiving ginger tablet 1.5 gr/day) and placebo group (placebo tablet 1.5 gr/day) for 8 weeks. Lipid profile before and after intervention was compared within groups using paired t-test and the mean differences using independent t-test between two groups.

Results: At the end of the intervention period, 67 (93.06%) of patients were analyzed. The study showed that in the ginger group, mean of LDL-C decreased after intervention (104.22±20.60) in comparison to before (115.19±24.86) and mean of HDL-C increased (50.21±10.16 at before and 55.27±10.19 after the intervention) significantly (p<0.001). In placebo group, mean of LDL-C (113.86±19.19 at before and 118.88±22.38 after the intervention), TG (134.09±59.70 at before and 143.97±57.21 after the intervention) and total cholesterol (190.12±26.90 at before and 199.17±32.50 after the intervention) increased significantly (p<0.05). Mean changes of LDL-C, HDL-C and total cholesterol after intervention was significant between two groups (p<0.05). Mean of TG in ginger group in comparison to placebo group increased slightly but it’s changes after was not significant between groups (p=0.36).

Conclusion: Current study showed that ginger powder compared to placebo has the ability to modify lipid profile in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.