Ginger (Zingiber officinale, fam: Zingiberaceae) is a plant whose rhizome is used by humans as a spice or anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. It is composed of many constituents, though the majority are gingerols and shogaols. Although the bioactive components have been found, the mechanisms of action of the single components still need to be determined. Ginger compounds may be toxic at high doses, and therefore its use as a food/drug requires better guidelines. This study focuses on one of the major ginger compounds, the [6]-gingerol, and the relationships between the dosage used and the effects on sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Toxicity tests with morphological and viability evaluations were done on embryos and adult immune cells. A dose-dependent toxic effect of [6]-gingerol was observed. It increased the number of abnormal morphologies and reduced the size of embryos up to 100% with the dose of 100 μM. Cell viability of immune cells gradually decreased over time, up to 40% with 50 μM after 6 h. The expression of genes coding for inflammatory (Pl-NF-kB, Pl-Tlr4, Pl-tbk1, Pl-jun) and stress responsive (Pl-grp78, Pl-XPB-ERCC3) proteins were measured in immune cells stimulated with lipopolysaccharide after [6]-gingerol pre-treament. The results suggested that low doses of [6]-gingerol (10 and 20 μM) might confer protection to sea urchin immune cells. Different doses of [6]-gingerol (10, 20, and 50 μM) tested on three different non-pathogenic bacteria did not show any antimicrobial effects. The results suggested that [6]-gingerol might be beneficial as a functional food.

生姜（Zingiber officinale， fam：Zingiberaceae）是一种植物，其根茎被人类用作香料或消炎剂和抗氧化剂。它由许多成分组成，尽管大多数是姜油和松果油。尽管已经发现了生物活性成分，但是仍然需要确定单个成分的作用机理。生姜化合物在高剂量时可能有毒，因此将其用作食品/药品需要更好的指南。本研究的重点主要生姜化合物之一，[6] -姜酚，和所使用的剂量和海胆海上的影响之间的关系Paracentrotus苋。对胚胎和成年免疫细胞进行了形态学和生存力评估的毒性测试。观察到[6]-姜油醇的剂量依赖性毒性作用。当剂量为100μM时，它会增加异常形态的数量，并将胚胎的大小减小至100％。免疫细胞的细胞活力随着时间的推移逐渐降低，在6 h后达到50μM时可达40％。炎性基因（Pl-NF-kB，Pl-Tlr4，Pl-tbk1，Pl-jun）和应激反应（Pl-grp78，Pl-XPB-ERCC3）的表达在[6]-姜油预处理后，在用脂多糖刺激的免疫细胞中测量蛋白质。结果表明，低剂量的[6]-姜油（10和20μM）可能对海胆免疫细胞具有保护作用。在三种不同的非致病性细菌上测试的不同剂量的[6]-姜油（10、20和50μM）没有显示出任何抗菌作用。结果表明[6]-姜粉作为功能食品可能是有益的。