https://biointerfaceresearch.com/ 11135 Article Volume 11, Issue 4, 2021, 11135 - 11144 https://doi.org/10.33263/BRIAC114.1113511144 Ameliorative Effect of Zingiber officinale on Chemical Induced DNA Damage in Rats Using PCR Analysis Mary Abiola Okesola 1, * , Olubanke Ogunlana 1 , Israel Afolabi 1 , Amos Onasanya 2 1 Department of Biochemistry, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria 2 Department of Chemical Sciences, Biochemistry Programme, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria * Correspondence: okesolaabiola@yahoo.com; Scopus Author ID 57200559627 Received: 12.11.2020; Revised: 5.12.2020; Accepted: 6.12.2020; Published: 9.12.2020 Abstract: Ginger rhizomes have been reportedly used in folk medicine for the management of various ailments. This study, therefore, investigates the ameliorative effect of the ethanolic extract of ginger (Zingiber officinale) rhizomes against DNA damage in rats induced with different carcinogens. Fifteen Wistar rats grouped into 3 of 5 rats per group were used for the study. The first set of blood samples was first collected before the animals were orally treated with heavy metals. After 14 days of induction, the second set of blood was collected. The third phase of blood collection was done after administering an ethanolic extract of Z. officinale for 14 days. The UV wavelength absorption spectrum and conventional PCR analysis were carried out on DNA extracts of all the animals. Cluster analysis of optical density (OD) and PCR data were carried out as well as genomic instability, similarity, and diversity using the best 3 Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) primers. The PCR –DNA concentration analysis showed the Z. officinale extract's ameliorative effect against lead acetate, cadmium chloride, and arsenic trioxide-induced DNA damage with a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in DNA concentration of the treated rats when compared with induced rats. The cluster analysis of optical density values revealed close similarity between the control animals' DNA, a slight similarity with treated animals' DNA, and a significant difference with the induced animal DNA. These results indicated the ameliorative properties of Z. officinale against these heavy metals induced DNA damage in rats. Keywords: Zingiber officinale; polymerase chain reaction; RAPD- PCR Primer; heavy metals. © 2020 by the authors. This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 1. Introduction Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is an essential molecule that maintains the genetic information of all living organisms [1]; hence, maintaining healthy DNA is paramount to the proper functioning of all metabolic processes occurring in the living system. Several studies involved heavy metals as one of the foremost cause of DNA damage due to the generation of reactive oxygen species, which causes changes in metabolism leading to lipid peroxidation, depletion of sulphydryls, a break in DNA strand, a base missing from the backbone of DNA, or a chemically changed base, such as 8-hydrodeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG), which is a significant marker of oxidative stress [2, 3, 4]. Thus damaged DNA may induce several cellular adverse responses on the cell such as triggering apoptotic pathways, cardiovascular disease, and necrosis [5, 6, 7]. Rajkumar et al. [8] revealed that heavy metals are unavoidable because of man's anthropogenic activity that can increase its content in the air, water, soil, and tissues of living organisms leading to health implications in the human system. According to Oyinloye