Protective effect of thymoquinone on cholestatic rats with liver injury

Abstract

ABSTRACT. The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effects of thymoquinone treatment on cholestatic rats with liver injury. Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into four groups: normal control, bile duct ligation model control, low-dose thymoquinone (25 mg/kg), and high-dose thymoquinone (50 mg/kg). Thymoquinone gavage was administered continuously 3 days before bile duct ligation, and saline, at the same volume, was administered to the control group. The rats were sacrificed after 2 weeks of treatment, and the liver tissues were obtained and frozen. The contents of hydroxyproline (HP), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in the homogenate of the liver tissues were determined to evaluate the changes in hepatic tissue pathology by fibrosis scoring. The HP and MDA levels were significantly lower and the SOD and GPx levels were significantly higher in the thymoquinonetreatment group than the corresponding levels in the model control (2015) group, and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05) and dose-dependent. The hepatic necrosis areas and hepatic fibrosis scores of the thymoquinone-treatment groups were significantly lower than those of the model group (P < 0.05). Thymoquinone increased the antioxidative capacity of liver and reduced the oxidative stress damage to the liver. Thymoquinone can be used as a liver protectant in patients with cholestasis.

The fibrolytic potentials of vitamin D and thymoquinone remedial therapies: insights from liver fibrosis established by CCl4 in rats

“…Equivalent results have also been reported following the use of TQ for the treatment of liver fibrosis in a variety of experimental in vivo models as well as in vitro experiments [ 29 , 43 , 49 ]. TQ therapy was also associated with inhibition of the trans-differentiation process of immortalized human HSCs and reduction of ECM deposition together with a significant increase in the levels of IL-10 and MMPs [ 43 , 44 ].…”

“…At the present time, little is known regarding whether VitD or TQ could have direct fibrolytic activities. In this concern, all the available studies that investigated the effects of TQ initiated the therapeutic protocol either before or at the same time of fibrogenesis induction and none of them tested the compound following the establishment of liver fibrosis [ 29 , 43 , 49 ]. On the other hand, only a single study measured the anti-fibrogenic as well as fibrolytic effects of VitD following thioacetamide and bile duct ligation models, respectively [ 23 ].…”

Thymoquinone harbors protection against Concanavalin A‐induced behavior deficit in BALB/c mice model

“…Thymoquinone, the main active ingredient of Nigella sativa , has been widely studied for its effectivity against acute and chronic inflammatory conditions in animal models as well as humans, such as arthritis (Faisal, Chiragh, Popalzai, & Rehman, 2015), asthma (Kalemci et al., 2013), hepatic injury (Kong, Li, Yang, & Xi, 2015), neurodegeneration (Elmaci & Altinoz, 2016), and cancer (Banerjee et al., 2010), emphasizing its immunomodulatory attributes. The therapeutic effect of thymoquinone on inflammation induced depressive‐like behavior, however, has not been completely explored.…”

Plants and Surgery: The Protective Effects of Thymoquinone on Hepatic Injury—A Systematic Review of In Vivo Studies

“…The antioxidant effect was the most emphasized property of TQ. The majority of the results were achieved in liver toxicity models [ 40 , 41 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 ] and steatosis models [ 49 , 62 , 63 ], followed by tumor [ 64 ] (see Section 2.2.5 ), cholestasis [ 65 , 66 ], IRI [ 67 , 68 ], irradiation [ 69 ] and healthy liver models [ 70 , 71 ].…”