Pharmacokinetics of [6]-shogaol, a pungent ingredient of Zingiber officinale Roscoe (Part I).

To investigate the pharmacokinetics of [6]-shogaol, a pungent ingredient of Zingiber officinale Roscoe, the pharmacokinetic parameters were determined by using (14)C-[6]-shogaol (labeled compound) and [6]-shogaol (non-labeled compound). When the labeled compound was orally administered to rats, the maximum plasma concentration (C (max)) and the area under the curve (AUC) of plasma radioactivity concentration increased in a dose-dependent manner. When the labeled compound was orally administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg, 20.0 + or - 1.8% of the radioactivity administered was excreted into urine, 64.0 + or - 12.9% into feces, and 0.2 + or - 0.1% into breath. Thus, more of the radioactivity was excreted into feces than into urine, and almost no radioactivity was excreted into breath. Furthermore, when the labeled compound was orally administered at a dose of 10 mg/kg, cumulative biliary radioactivity excretion over 48 h was 78.5 + or - 4.5% of the radioactivity administered, and cumulative urinary radioactivity excretion over 48 h was 11.8 + or - 2.7%, showing that about 90% of the dose administered orally was absorbed from the digestive tract and most of the fecal excretion was via biliary excretion. On the other hand, when the non-labeled compound [6]-shogaol was orally administered, the plasma concentration and biliary excretion of the unchanged form were extremely low. When these results are combined with those obtained with the labeled compound, it would suggest that [6]-shogaol is mostly metabolized in the body and excreted as metabolites.