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. 2018 May-Jun;8(3):263-275.

Early and late preventive effect of Nigella sativa on the bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats: An experimental study

Hamid Reza Poursalehi  1 , Mitra Samareh Fekri  2 , Fariba Sharifi Far  3 , Ali Mandegari  4 , Atefe Izadi  5 , Rahil Mahmoodi  5 , Hadi Nematollahi  6 , Fateme Porgholamhosein  5 , Vahideh Ghorani  7 , Masome Samareh Fekri  8
Affiliations

Early and late preventive effect of Nigella sativa on the bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats: An experimental study

Hamid Reza Poursalehi et al. Avicenna J Phytomed. 2018 May-Jun.

Abstract

Objective: Pulmonary fibhrosis is a disease of the connective tissues in the respiratory system. Nigella sativa has been used for the treatment of pulmonary diseases like asthma. This study investigated the early and late preventive effect of methanolic extract of N. sativa on a bleomycin- induced pulmonary fibrosis model.

Materials and methods: This study was carried out using 52 rats. Pulmonary fibrosis was induced by a single endotracheal injection of bleomycin (5 mg/kg). Extract of N. sativa (500 mg/kg per day) or methylprednisolone succinate (4 mg/kg per day) was injected intraperitoneally in two periods (i.e. days 1-14 as early preventive group and days 15-28 days as late preventive group). The lung tissues were histologically examined at the end of each period and inspected for the amount of hydroxyproline and biomarkers of oxidative stress.

Results: The pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis were significantly decreased in groups treated with methylprednisolone and N. sativa extract compared to bleomycin group in both early and late prevention groups (p<0.001). The hydroxyproline concentration in pulmonary tissue was significantly decreased in N. sativa and methylprednisolone groups compared to the bleomycin group in both prevention groups (p<0.001). Significant reductions in lipid peroxidation (p<0.001) and increases in catalase activity were also observed in N. sativa and methylprednisolone groups compared to bleomycin group.

Conclusion: This study suggested that N. Sativa extract is effective for early and late prevention of pulmonary fibrosis and inflammation. However, more studies are needed to identify its anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic mechanisms in the respiratory system.

Keywords: Bleomycin; Hydroxyproline; Nigella sativa; Pulmonary inflammation Fibrosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors don’t have conflicts of interest for this research.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Early (a) and late (b) preventive effect of N. sativa methanolic extract on lipid peroxidation (LPO) in bleomycin group (BLM, n=7 for early P. groups and n=5 for late P. groups), normal saline group (Saline, n=4 for early P. groups and n=6 for late P. groups), BML-treated with methyl prednisolone (M-pred, n=7) and N. sativa (N. sativa, n=8). Data are presented as mean±SD values. Statistical comparisons were made using ANOVA and Gabriel test. **p<0.01 and ***p<0.001 show significant differences vs. BLM group
Figure 2
Figure 2
Early (a) and late (b) preventive effect of N. sativa methanolic extract on catalase activity in bleomycin group (BLM, n=7 for early P. groups and n=5 for late P. groups), normal saline group (Saline, n=4 for early P. groups and n=6 for late P. groups), BML-treated with methyl prednisolone (M-pred, n=7) and Nigella sativa (N. sativa, n=8). Data are presented as mean±SD. Statistical comparisons were made using ANOVA and Gabriel test
Figure 3
Figure 3
BLM-induced lung histopathological changes in early (a) and late (b) P. groups. The top pictures (A-D) taken following hematoxylin-eosin staining for pulmonary inflammation and the bottom pictures (E-H) are related to Masson‘s trichrome staining method for depicted pulmonary fibrosis. A, E: Saline group; B, F: BLM group; C, G: M-pred group; D, H: N. sativa group. (Magnification X100). BLM: bleomycin; Saline: normal saline; M-pred: methyl prednisolone; N. sativa: Nigella sativa
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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