Nigella sativa Relieves the Altered Insulin Receptor Signaling in Streptozotocin‐Induced Diabetic Rats Fed with a High‐Fat Diet

Abstract

The black cumin (Nigella sativa) “NS” or the black seeds have many pharmacological activities such as antioxidant, anticarcinogenic, antihypertensive, and antidiabetic properties. In this work, streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats fed with a high-fat diet were treated daily with NS oil (NSO) in order to study the effect on the blood glucose, lipid profile, oxidative stress parameters, and the gene expression of some insulin receptor-induced signaling molecules. This treatment was combined also with some drugs (metformin and glimepiride) and the insulin receptor inhibitor I-OMe-AG538. The administration of NSO significantly induced the gene expression of insulin receptor compared to rats that did not receive NSO. Also, it upregulated the expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 and phosphoinositide-3 kinase, whereas the expression of ADAM-17 was downregulated. The expression of ADAM-17 is corroborated by the analysis of TIMP-3 content. In addition, the NSO significantly reduced blood glucose level, components of the lipid profile, oxidative stress parameters, serum insulin/insulin receptor ratio, and the tumor necrosis factor-α, confirming that NSO has an antidiabetic activity. Thus, the daily NSO treatment in our rat model indicates that NSO has a potential in the management of diabetes as well as improvement of insulin-induced signaling.

Dissecting the Potential Roles of Nigella sativa and Its Constituent Thymoquinone on the Prevention and on the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease

“…A possible role of the brain insulin resistance and a reduced insulin signaling in the AD's pathogenesis, was also described by several studies (Aliev et al, 2014 ). Baalba et al, by using streptozotocin-induced diabetic (STZ-T2DM) rats, showed that the daily intake of NSO induced the expression of insulin receptor and altered the expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 and phosphoinositide-3 kinase (Balbaa et al, 2016 ). Based on these results, subsequently, the authors showed that in STZ-T2DM rats, NSO (2.0 ml/Kg) and anti-diabetic drugs (metformin and glimepiride) alone and/or in combination, were able to suppress brain levels of oxidative stress markers such as xanthine oxidase (XO) and NOS, through the product of lipid peroxidation [e.g., thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS)] (Balbaa et al, 2017 ).…”

Ethnopharmacological survey of medicinal plants with hallucinogenic effect and plants used against pain, inflammatory diseases, diabetes and urinary lithiasis in Zagora “Morocco”.

“…Indeed, the fenugreek seeds [34], Marrubium vulgare [35], N. sativa [36], A. sativum [37], Carum carvi, and Ziziphus lotus [38,39] shows an antidiabetic effects in streptozotocininduced diabetic in rat and alloxan-induced diabetes in mice. Khan et al demonstrated in vitro that P. dactylifera seeds extract inhibit α-glucosidase and α-amylase level [40].…”

Black Seed Thymoquinone Improved Insulin Secretion, Hepatic Glycogen Storage, and Oxidative Stress in Streptozotocin‐Induced Diabetic Male Wistar Rats

“…The occurrence of diabetes was ascertained after 48 h post-STZ injection by determination of blood glucose level. The animals that possessed blood glucose values of over 250 mg/dL were supposed to be diabetic [ 25 ].…”