The present investigation focused, firstly, on the effects of oral administration of thymoquinone (TQ) on antioxidant enzyme activities, lipid peroxidation and DT-diaphorase activity in hepatic, cardiac and kidney tissues of normal mice. Superoxide dismutase (SOD; E.C:1.15.1.1), catalase (CAT; E.C:1.11.1.6), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px; E.C:1.11.1.9), glutathione-S-transferase (GST; E.C:2.5.1.18), and DT-diaphorase (E.C:1.6.99.2) enzyme activities in each tissue type were determined. Treatment of mice with the different doses of TQ (25, 50 and 100 mg kg(-1) day(-1) orally) for 5 successive days, produced significant reductions in hepatic SOD, CAT and GSH-Px activities. In addition cardiac SOD activity was markedly inhibited with the higher doses of TQ, (namely 50 and 100 mg kg(-1)). Moreover, TQ (100 mg kg(-1)) significantly reduced hepatic and cardiac lipid peroxidation as compared with the respective control group. Conversely, TQ (50,100 mg kg(-1)) and TQ (100 mg kg(-1)) enhanced cardiac and renal DT-diaphorase activity respectively. However, the selected doses of TQ neither produced any change in GST activity nor influenced reduced glutathione content in all tissues studied. TQ was tested, secondly, as a substrate for hepatic, cardiac and renal DT-diaphorase of normal mice in the presence of NADPH. Kinetic parameters for the reduction of TQ to dihydrothymoquinone (DHTQ) indicated that DT-diaphorase of different tissues can efficiently reduce TQ to DHTQ. K(m) and V(max) values revealed that hepatic DT-diaphorase exhibited the higher values, while the lower values were associated with renal DT-diaphorase. TQ and DHTQ were tested, thirdly, as specific scavengers for superoxide anion (generated biochemically) or as general scavengers for free radicals (generated photochemically). The results revealed that TQ and DHTQ acted not only as superoxide anion scavengers but also as general free radical scavengers. The IC(50) for TQ and DHTQ in biochemical and photochemical assays were in the nanomolar and micromolar range respectively. Our data may explain at least partly the reported beneficial in vivo protective effects of TQ through the combined antioxidant properties of TQ and its metabolite DHTQ.

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Black cumin seed, Nigella sativa L., and its oils have traditionally been used for the treatment of asthma and other inflammatory diseases. Thymoquinone (TQ) has been proposed to be one of the major active components of the drug. Since leukotrienes (LTs) are important mediators in asthma and inflammatory processes, the effects of TQ on leukotriene formation were studied in human blood cells. TQ provoked a significant concentration-dependent inhibition of both LTC4 and LTB4 formation from endogenous substrate in human granulocyte suspensions with IC50 values of 1.8 and 2.3 microM, respectively, at 15 min. Major inhibitory effect was on the 5-lipoxygenase activity (IC50 3 microM) as evidenced by suppressed conversion of exogenous arachidonic acid into 5-hydroxy eicosatetraenoic acid (5HETE) in sonicated polymorphonuclear cell suspensions. In addition, TQ induced a significant inhibition of LTC4 synthase activity, with an IC50 of 10 microM, as judged by suppressed transformation of exogenous LTA4 into LTC4. In contrast, the drug was without any inhibitory effect on LTA4 hydrolase activity. When exogenous LTA4 was added to intact or sonicated platelet suspensions preincubated with TQ, a similar inhibition of LTC4 synthase activity was observed as in human granulocyte suspensions. The unselective protein kinase inhibitor, staurosporine failed to prevent inhibition of LTC4 synthase activity induced by TQ. The findings demonstrate that TQ potently inhibits the formation of leukotrienes in human blood cells. The inhibitory effect was dose- and time-dependent and was exerted on both 5-lipoxygenase and LTC4 synthase activity.

Global trials are grappling toward identifying prosperous remediation against the ever-emerging and re-emerging pathogenic respiratory viruses. Battling coronavirus, as a model respiratory virus, via repurposing existing therapeutic agents could be a welcome move. Motivated by its well-demonstrated curative use in herpes simplex and influenza viruses, utilization of the nanoscale zinc oxide (ZnO) would be an auspicious approach. In this direction, ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated herein and relevant aspects related to the formulation such as optimization, structure, purity, and morphology were elucidated. In silico molecular docking was conducted to speculate the possible interaction between ZnO NPs and COVID-19 targets including the ACE2 receptor, COVID-19 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, and main protease. The cellular internalization of ZnO NPs using human lung fibroblast cells was also assessed. Optimized hexagonal and spherical ZnO nanostructures of a crystallite size of 11.50 ± 0.71 nm and positive charge were attained. The pure and characteristic hexagonal wurtzite P 63 mc crystal structure was also observed. Interestingly, felicitous binding of ZnO NPs with the three tested COVID-19 targets, via hydrogen bond formation, was detected. Furthermore, an enhanced dose-dependent cellular uptake was demonstrated. The obtained results infer a rationale, awaiting validation from further biological and therapeutic studies.

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