Abstract

  Environmental pollution is among the major issues the world is facing today. Lead (Pb) contamination even, at a small amount may cause serious damage to vital organs in the body such as liver. On the other hand, medicinal plants have been used for many centuries to cure diseases, especially the black seed (Nigella sativa) (NS). Nigella sativa oil (NSO) is a great source of antioxidants and fatty acids. The objective of this research is to assess the potential use of NSO as the possible protective agent in female rats exposed to Pb using several biochemical parameters, besides the histological changes induced by Pb in liver. In this study, 40 female rats were equally allocated into 4 groups. Rats of the first group (G1) were served as normal controls. Rats of the second group (G2) were orally ingested every two days with a single dose of Pb acetate (150mg/kg/body weight) for a period of 6 weeks. Rats of the third group were exposed to Pb acetate similar to group 2 and Nigella sativa oil ((700mg/kg/day). Rats of the fourth group were administered Nigella sativa oil. Results showed that oral administration of Pb acetate exhibited highly significant increase in the levels of liver function enzymes. Histological examinations of liver sections from rats exposed to only Pb acetate showed severe alterations. This study showed that Nigella sativa oil attenuated the biochemical and histological changes induced by Pb intoxication.

Keywords: Environmental Pollution; Heavy Metals; Pb; Toxicity; Nigella sativa; Nigella Sativa Oil

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Citation

Citation: Majdah H Al-Massari., et al. “Effect of Nigella sativa Oil on Female Rats Exposed to Lead". Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 4.2 (2020): 222-229.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Majdah H Al-Massari., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.