Role of Habbatus sauda towards the histological features of nicotine treated male rats seminal vesicle and prostate gland

Abstract

Habbatus sauda (Nigella sativa) is a plant commonly used as herbal medicine for treatment of diseases while nicotine is an addictive chemical that is present in cigarettes. The study was conducted to observe the effects of Habbatus sauda on histological structures of nicotine treated male rats' seminal vesicles (SV) and prostate glands (PG). Rats were divided into five groups: Habbatus sauda control (HSC), Habbatus sauda (HS), nicotine control (NC), nicotine (N) and nicotine - Habbatus sauda (NHS). The HSC and HS groups were force-fed with 0.1ml/100g of corn oil and 6μl/100g of Habbatus sauda oil, respectively. The NC and N groups were intramuscularly (i.m.) injected with 0.1ml/100g of saline and 5.0mg/100g of nicotine, respectively. The NHS group was treated with the same dosage of nicotine and Habbatus sauda as the N and HS groups. The treatment was conducted for 100 days. The PG and SV of animals in the N group showed reduction in the epithelial height of the mucosal linings compared to that of in the NC, HSC, HS and NHS groups. Moreover, there was also less acidophilic secretion materials found in the glands of the animals in the N group compared to the other 4 groups. However, the histology of the prostate glands and seminal vesicles in the NHS group was noted to be similar to that of in the control (NC and HSC) groups. Hence, this suggested that administration of Habbatus sauda could lead to an improvement in histology and function of both PG and SV in the nicotine treated rats.