Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Jan-Feb;6(1):104-16.

Neuropharmacological effects of Nigella sativa

Farimah Beheshti  1 , Majid Khazaei  2 , Mahmoud Hosseini  3
Affiliations
Review

Neuropharmacological effects of Nigella sativa

Farimah Beheshti et al. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2016 Jan-Feb.

Abstract

Nigella sativa (NS) (Ranunculaceae family) is generally utilized as a therapeutic plant all over the world. The seeds of the plant have a long history of use in different frameworks of medicines and food. In Islamic literature, it is considered as one of the greatest forms of therapeutics. It has been widely used to treat nervous system diseases such as memory impairment, epilepsy, neurotoxicity, pain, etc. Additionally, this is uncovered that the majority of therapeutic properties of this plant are due to the presence of thymoquinone (TQ) which is a major bioactive component of the essential oil. Pharmacological studies have been done to evaluate the effects of NS on the central nervous system (CNS). The present review is an effort to provide a detailed scientific literature survey about pharmacological activities of the plant on nervous system. Our literature review showed that NS and its components can be considered as promising agents in the treatment of nervous system disorders.

Keywords: Central nervous system; Neuropharmacological effects; Nigella sativa; Thymoquinone.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Nigella sativa(whole plant, flower and seeds) (Ahmad et al., 2013
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Abdel-Daim MM, Ghazy EW. Effects of Nigella sativa oil and ascorbic acid against oxytetracycline-induced hepato-renal toxicity in rabbits. Iran J Basic Med Sci. 2015;18:221. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Abdel-Fattah AM, Matsumoto K, Watanabe H. Antinociceptive effects of Nigella sativa oil and its major component, thymoquinone, in mice. Eur J Pharmacol. 2000;400:89–97. - PubMed
    1. Abdel-Zaher AO, Abdel-Rahman MS, Elwasei FM. Protective effect of Nigella sativa oil against tramadol-induced tolerance and dependence in mice: role of nitric oxide and oxidative stress. Neurotoxicology. 2011;32:725–733. - PubMed
    1. Abel-Salam BK. Immunomodulatory effects of black seedsand garlic on alloxan-induced diabetes in albino rat. Allergol Immunopathol (Madr) 2012;40:336–340. - PubMed
    1. Adams EH, Breiner S, Cicero TJ, Geller A, Inciardi JA, Schnoll SH, Senay EC, Woody GE. A comparison of the abuse liability of tramadol, NSAIDs, and hydrocodone in patients with chronic pain. J Pain Symptom Manage. 2006;31:465–476. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources