Ginger Root Extract for Sciatic Pain Individuals

NCT ID: NCT06817018

Last Updated: 2025-12-30

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

80 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-07-01

Study Completion Date

2028-02-28

Brief Summary

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Neuropathic pain affects the quality of life of many Americans. Non-pharmacological strategies such as bioactive compounds in foods are being explored as therapeutics but can also serve as tools to better understand pain mechanisms. The previous study reported that ginger root extract supplementation palliated pain-spectrum behaviors in animals with neuropathic pain via the microbiota-gut-brain axis. The proposed study is primarily designed to use ginger supplementation for a better understanding of the role of microbiota-gut-brain interactions in sciatica states in a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled trial. Eighty participants with sciatica will be randomized to receive placebo (2000 mg starch daily) or ginger (2000 mg daily) for 8 weeks. This study will evaluate the effects of ginger supplementation on gut function measured as gut microbiota composition using 16S rRNA sequencing analysis, intestinal permeability based on plasma lipopolysaccharide binding protein and fecal zonulin using ELISA, and fecal metabolites using LC-MS/MS analysis (SA 1); on neuroinflammation in whole blood mRNA using nCounter® Neuroinflammation Panels analysis (SA 2); and on pain-associated outcomes and brain neuroplasticity by assessing functional (resting state-fMRI) and structural (Diffusion Tensor Imaging) connectivity (SA 3).

Detailed Description

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Conditions

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Neuropathic Pain Sciatic Pain

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

TRIPLE

Participants Investigators Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Placebo

Placebo group: 2,000 mg cellulose daily for 8 weeks

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Placebo (Sabinsa)

Ginger

Ginger group: 2,000 mg ginger root extract daily for 8 weeks

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Ginger

Intervention Type DRUG

Ginger root extract

Interventions

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Placebo

Placebo (Sabinsa)

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Ginger

Ginger root extract

Intervention Type DRUG

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* 18-85 years old men and women with BMI \< 25 or ≥ 30 kg/m2
* low back or gluteal pain radiating into leg(s) past the knee (sciatica) with pain duration of at least 3 months (chronic sciatica)
* pain scale \> 3 out of 10 (0=no pain,10=worst pain imaginable) during the past 24 hours
* willingness to accept randomization.
* woman of childbearing potential agrees to use an effective form of contraception during the study

Exclusion Criteria

Sciatica aspects:

* known or suspected serious spinal pathology (e.g., cauda equina syndrome or spinal fracture)
* scheduled, or being considered, for spinal surgery or interventional procedures for sciatica during study period
* focal neurological deficits with progressive or disabling symptoms
* low back pain without sciatica

GI aspects:

* unstable GI disorder
* history of chronic or systemic autoimmune diseases with GI involvement
* recent (\<1 month) appearance of diarrhea or hematochezia before study begins
* recent (\<1 month) exposure to antibiotics before study start

Other exclusion considerations:

* pregnant or breast-feeding women
* women of child-bearing potential will have a urine pregnancy test done prior to the baseline MRI and administration of any study drug. The clinical research coordinator will run the pregnancy test and inform the patient of the results. If the test is positive, they will be withdrawn from study participation.
* cognitive impairment, history of psychiatric conditions indicating mental health instability or incapacity
* likeliness of moving during the trial, lack of transportation, or unavailability at sample collection times.
* presence of a bleeding diathesis
* taking anticoagulant medications (e.g Heparin, Warfarin)
* taking dual antiplatelet medications (e.g. aspirin + Plavix)
* participants with clinically significant laboratory abnormalities of liver function (AST and ALT) and kidney function (BUN and serum creatinine) abnormalities. Definition of clinically significant for liver function is AST/ALT ≥ 3.0x ULN and for kidney function is serum creatinine \> 2.0 mg/dl and BUN \> 1.5x ULN.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

85 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Leslie Shen

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Leslie Shen

Professor of Pathology

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

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Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Lubbock, Texas, United States

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center

Lubbock, Texas, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States

Central Contacts

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Chwan-Li (Leslie) Shen, PhD

Role: CONTACT

Phone: 806-743-2815

Email: [email protected]

Facility Contacts

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Chwan-Li (Leslie) Shen, PhD

Role: primary

Chwan-Li (Leslie) Shen, PhD, CCRP

Role: primary

References

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Shen CL, Watkins BA, Kahathuduwa C, Chyu MC, Zabet-Moghaddam M, Elmassry MM, Luk HY, Brismee JM, Knox A, Lee J, Zumwalt M, Wang R, Wager TD, Neugebauer V. Tai Chi Improves Brain Functional Connectivity and Plasma Lysophosphatidylcholines in Postmenopausal Women With Knee Osteoarthritis: An Exploratory Pilot Study. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Jan 3;8:775344. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2021.775344. eCollection 2021.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 35047525 (View on PubMed)

Goncalves L, Dickenson AH. Asymmetric time-dependent activation of right central amygdala neurones in rats with peripheral neuropathy and pregabalin modulation. Eur J Neurosci. 2012 Nov;36(9):3204-13. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2012.08235.x. Epub 2012 Aug 3.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22861166 (View on PubMed)

Checchia GA, Letizia Mauro G, Morico G, Oriente A, Lisi C, Polimeni V, Lucia M, Ranieri M; Management of Peripheral Neuropathies Study Group. Observational multicentric study on chronic sciatic pain: clinical data from 44 Italian centers. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2017 Apr;21(7):1653-1664.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 28429339 (View on PubMed)

Nation KM, De Felice M, Hernandez PI, Dodick DW, Neugebauer V, Navratilova E, Porreca F. Lateralized kappa opioid receptor signaling from the amygdala central nucleus promotes stress-induced functional pain. Pain. 2018 May;159(5):919-928. doi: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000001167.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 29369967 (View on PubMed)

U Jumbo S, C MacDermid J, E Kalu M, L Packham T, S Athwal G, J Faber K. Measurement Properties of the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form (BPI-SF) and the Revised Short McGill Pain Questionnaire-Version-2 (SF-MPQ-2) in Pain-related Musculoskeletal Conditions: A Systematic Review Protocol. Arch Bone Jt Surg. 2020 Mar;8(2):131-141. doi: 10.22038/abjs.2020.36779.1973.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 32490042 (View on PubMed)

Dworkin RH, Turk DC, Revicki DA, Harding G, Coyne KS, Peirce-Sandner S, Bhagwat D, Everton D, Burke LB, Cowan P, Farrar JT, Hertz S, Max MB, Rappaport BA, Melzack R. Development and initial validation of an expanded and revised version of the Short-form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ-2). Pain. 2009 Jul;144(1-2):35-42. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2009.02.007. Epub 2009 Apr 7.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19356853 (View on PubMed)

Shen CL, Wang R, Ji G, Elmassry MM, Zabet-Moghaddam M, Vellers H, Hamood AN, Gong X, Mirzaei P, Sang S, Neugebauer V. Dietary supplementation of gingerols- and shogaols-enriched ginger root extract attenuate pain-associated behaviors while modulating gut microbiota and metabolites in rats with spinal nerve ligation. J Nutr Biochem. 2022 Feb;100:108904. doi: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2021.108904. Epub 2021 Nov 6.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 34748918 (View on PubMed)

Shen CL, Wang R, Yakhnitsa V, Santos JM, Watson C, Kiritoshi T, Ji G, Hamood AN, Neugebauer V. Gingerol-Enriched Ginger Supplementation Mitigates Neuropathic Pain via Mitigating Intestinal Permeability and Neuroinflammation: Gut-Brain Connection. Front Pharmacol. 2022 Jul 8;13:912609. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.912609. eCollection 2022.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 35873544 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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Ginger-sciatic pain

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id