Evaluation of the possible immuno-protective effect of Nigella sativa seed oil on cyclophosphamide- induced myelosuppression in mice

Abstract

Myelosuppression is one of the serious adverse effects of cancer chemotherapy that lead to life threatening febrile neutropenia and considered a limiting factor for successful therapy. Cyclophosphamide a widely used anticancer drugs, induces severe bone marrow suppression by damaging hematopoietic stem cells. As cancer incidence expands globally, the demand for an effective myeloprotective therapy during cancer treatment is also increasing. Nigella sativa seed oil, a well-known plant extract that widely used for various health conditions. This study aims to evaluate the myeloprotective activity of Nigella sativa seed oil in cyclophosphamide-induced myelosuppression mice model. Myelosuppression induced by single intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg). Animals were divided into 4 groups each with 6 mice. First group served as negative control group received only normal saline. A second group served as experimental myelosuppression model group achieved by cyclophosphamide. Additional 2 groups were mice received Nigella sativa seed oil (1ml/Kg/day) or (2ml/Kg/day) orally for 6 consecutive days starting day 1 with cyclophosphamide on day 3. Blood were collected from retro-orbital area on day 7 for total and differential leukocytes counts. Compared to model group, it is reported that Nigella sativa seed oil (1ml/Kg) significantly (P<0.05) increases total leukocytes count (1000±73 versus 700±36 cell/μL) and bone marrow cells viability (50.17±5.36 versus 9.5±0.76%). Furthermore, increasing Nigella sativa seed oil dose to (2ml/Kg) resulted in further improvement, where we reported a significant (P<0.05) increase in total leukocytes count (1267±352 versus 700±36 cell/μL) and bone marrow cells viability (67.67±5.49 versus 9.5±0.76%). The study concluded that Nigella sativa seed oil has a promising strong myeloprotective and immunomodulatory effects against cyclophosphamide-induced myelosuppression. Copyrights