The effects of Nigella sativa on neural damage after pentylenetetrazole induced seizures in rats

Abstract

Nigella sativa (NS) has been suggested to have neuroprotective and anti-seizures properties. The aim of current study was to investigate the effects of NS hydro-alcoholic extract on neural damage after pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) – induced repeated seizures. The rats were divided into five groups: (1) control (saline), (2) PTZ (50 mg/kg, i.p.), (3–5) PTZ-NS 100, PTZ-NS 200 and PTZ-NS 400 (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of NS extract respectively, 30 min prior to each PTZ injection on 5 consecutive days). The passive avoidance (PA) test was done and the brains were then removed for histological measurements. The PTZ-NS 100, PTZ-NS 200 and PTZ-NS 400 groups had lower seizure scores than PTZ group (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001). The latency to enter the dark compartment by the animals of PTZ group was lower than control in PA test (P < 0.01). Pre-treatment by 400 mg/kg of the extract increased the latency to enter the dark compartment (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, different doses of the extract inhibited production of dark neurons in different regions of hippocampus (P < 0.001). The present study allows us to suggest that the NS possesses a potential ability to prevent hippocampal neural damage which is accompanied with improving effects on memory.

Th e eff ects of Nigella Sativa extract on renal tissue oxidative damage during neonatal and juvenile growth in propylthiouracil-induced hypothyroid rats

“…TQ has been reported as a main component of the plant extract (Seghatoleslam et al 2015). Th erefore, the benefi cial eff ects of the plant extract, which was seen in the present study, might be due to TQ.…”

Effect of the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor tenoxicam on pentylenetetrazole-induced epileptic seizures in rats

“…In addition, the results of this present study showed that PTZ-induced seizures were resulted in dark neuron production in the hippocampal regions, as observed by previous studies 25,26 . The affected neurons, which are distributed among the healthy neurons and microenvironment, are called dark neurons 27 .…”

“…It is suggested that depolarization, glutamate release or receptor activation are more efficient in the mechanism of dark neuron production 27 , in addition, epilepsy is also an important cause of dark neuron production 26,[27][28][29] . There are many reports that confirmed hippocampal damages caused by seizures 26,30,31 . The results of this study were consistent with previous studies showing that dark neurons were produced in brain tissues following PTZ-induced seizures.…”

Neuroprotective Effect of Sacha Inchi Oil (Plukenetia volubilis L.) in an Experimental Model of Epilepsy

“…Also animals pretreated with ascorbic acid, before induction of seizures by pilocarpine have shown a significant reduction of 60% in the frequency of brain damage hippocampal, the latency to the first seizures, suppression behavioral convulsive episodes, followed by decreased lipid peroxidation (MDA and nitric oxide (NO). 21,22 It is known that omega-3 fatty acids can improve GABAergic transmission in animals with epilepsy by stimulating the formation of new hippocampal interneurons or by altering the expression of calcium-binding proteins. 23 On the other hand, polyunsaturated fatty acids, including n-3 (omega-3) fatty acids such as eicopentanoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and n-6 fatty acid (omega-6) as dihomo-c-linolenic acid and arachidonic acid are present in high levels in the brain.…”