Black seed oil ameliorates allergic airway inflammation by inhibiting T-cell proliferation in rats

• Published in: Pulmonary pharmacology & therapeutics Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 37 - 43
• Main Authors: Shahzad, Muhammad, Yang, Xudong, Raza Asim, M.B, Sun, Qingzhu, Han, Yan, Zhang, Fujun, Cao, Yongxiao, Lu, Shemin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2009
• Subjects: Animals; Black seed oil; Cell Proliferation - drug effects; Delayed type hypersensitivity; Disease Models, Animal; E3 rats; Female; Gene Expression Regulation - drug effects; IgE; IgG; Inflammation - drug therapy; Inflammation - physiopathology; Inflammation Mediators - metabolism; Lung - drug effects; Lung - physiopathology; Male; Medical Education; Medicine, Traditional; Nigella - chemistry; Nitric oxide; Ovalbumin; Plant Oils - pharmacology; Pulmonary/Respiratory; Rats; Respiratory Hypersensitivity - drug therapy; Respiratory Hypersensitivity - physiopathology; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Spleen - drug effects; Spleen - metabolism; T-cell proliferation; Th2 Cells - drug effects; Th2 Cells - metabolism; NO; PAS; Nigella sativa; IgE; IgG; enzyme linked immunosorbent assay; E3 rats; N. sativa; OD; Black seed oil; T-helper type 2 cells; interleukin; T-cell proliferation; BSO; PBS; Delayed type hypersensitivity; IL; immunoglobulin; Th2 cells; Nitric oxide; phosphate buffered saline; periodic acid Schiff; DTH; optical density; Ig; ELISA
• ISSN: 1094-5539; 1522-9629
• DOI: 10.1016/j.pupt.2008.11.006

Abstract The black seeds, from the Ranunculaceae family, have been traditionally used by various cultures as a natural remedy for several ailments. In this study, we examined the effect of black seed oil as an immunomodulator in a rat model of allergic airway inflammation. Rats sensitized to ovalbumin and challenged intranasally with ovalbumin to induce an allergic inflammatory response were compared to ovalbumin-sensitized, intranasally ovalbumin-exposed rats pretreated with intraperitoneally administered black seed oil and to control rats. The levels of IgE, IgG1 and ova-specific T-cell proliferation in spleen were measured by ELISA . The pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and TGF-β1 mRNA expression levels were measured by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The intraperitoneal administration of black seed oil inhibited the Th2 type immune response in rats by preventing inflammatory cell infiltration and pathological lesions in the lungs. It significantly decreased the nitric oxide production in BALF, total serum IgE, IgG1 and OVA-specific IgG1 along with IL-4, IL-5, IL-6 and TGF-β1 mRNA expression. Black seed oil treatment resulted in decreased T-cell response evident by lesser delayed type hypersensitivity and lower T-cell proliferation in spleen. In conclusion, black seed oil exhibited a significant reduction in all the markers of allergic inflammation mainly by inhibiting the delayed type hypersensitivity and T-cell proliferation. The data suggests that inhibition of T-cell response may be responsible for immunomodulatory effect of black seed oil in the rat model of allergic airway inflammation.