Nigella sativa (black cumin) ameliorates potassium bromate-induced early events of carcinogenesis: diminution of oxidative stress

Abstract

<jats:p> Potassium bromate (KBrO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub>) is a potent nephrotoxic agent. In this paper, we report the chemopreventive effect ofNigella sativa (black cumin) on KBrO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub>-mediated renal oxidative stress, toxicity and tumor promotion response in rats. KBrO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> (125 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally) enhances lipid peroxidation, g-glutamyl transpeptidase, hydrogen peroxide and xanthine oxidase with reduction in the activities of renal antioxidant enzymes and renal glutathione content. A marked increase in blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine has also been observed. KBrO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub> treatment also enhances ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity and [<jats:sup>3</jats:sup>H] thymidine incorporation into renal DNA. Prophylaxis of rats orally with Nigella sativaextract (50 mg/kg body weight and 100 mg/kg body weight) resulted in a significant decrease in renal microsomal lipid peroxidation (P B-00.001), g-glutamyl transpeptidase (P B-0.001), H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> (P B-0.001) and xanthine oxidase (P B-0.05). There was significant recovery of renal glutathione content (P B-0.01) and antioxidant enzymes (P B-0.001). There was also reversal in the enhancement of blood urea nitrogen, serum creatinine, renal ODC activity and DNA synthesis (P B-0.001). Data suggest that Nigella sativa is a potent chemopreventive agent and may suppress KBrO<jats:sub>3</jats:sub>-mediated renal oxidative stress, toxicity and tumour promotion response in rats. </jats:p>

Antidiabetic Properties of a Spice Plant Nigella sativa

“…The polymer is far less toxic but retains much of the pharmacologic properties of TQ, which is the active principle of the plant. The pharmacological actions of the seeds of Nigella sativa or its constituents that have been reported include protection against nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity induced by either disease or chemicals [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. The seeds/oil have anti-inflammatory [15], analgesic [4], antipyretic [16], spasmolytic [17], bronchodialator [17], antihistaminic [18], antihypertensive [19], antitumor [20], antioxidant [18], antineoplastic [9,21,22], antifertility [23], antibacterial [24], antifungal [25], antiprotozoal [26], anthelmintic [27] and insecticidal [28] activities.…”

Effects of the crude and the n-hexane extract of Nigella sativa Linn.(kalajira) upon diabetic rats

“…The pancreatic GSH concentrations were about 2-fold elevated, and histology suggested increased number of β cells in the islets of Langerhans. Nigella administration has endowed with either stimulating the enzymes which enhance GSH synthesis or inhibiting the enzymes which destroy or metabolize GSH (Khan et al, 2003). Probably it was this property of nigella due to which the GSH concentrations were increased and apparently more β cells appeared in histology.…”

Molecular characterization of Iranian black cumin ( Nigella sativa L.) accessions using RAPD marker

“…Extracts obtained from seeds of Nigella are usually used in the field of medicine in treating diseases such as respiratory infections, abdominal pains, gastrointestinal diseases, and as an antitumor agent (Hajhashemi et al, 2004;Mashhadian and Rakhshandeh, 2005). Furthermore, extracts of Nigella have insect repellent features and may be used for the production of organic pesticides (Khan et al, 2003). The seeds of Nigella, rich in essential polyunsaturated fatty acids, can also become a more economical alternative for the use of traditional crops in edible oil production.…”

“…In order to study genetic diversity, different DNA markers such as Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism (AFLP), Simple Sequence Repeats (SSR), Inter-Simple Sequence Repeats (ISSR), and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) are available; all of them have been used to determine genetic diversity in various populations (Panahi et al, 2013a;Panahi et al, 2013b;Mahmoudi et al, 2014). RAPD is an inexpensive and effective technique for surveying the genetic diversity in plants, and as it involves using short (10 bp) arbitrary primers for amplifying unknown sequences (Khan et al, 2003), it is suited for plants with poor genomic sequence information such as N. sativa (Panahi et al, 2013b).…”