Dr. Weeks’ Comment: COVID-19 kills by hyper inflammation. The Black cumin seed working synergistically with two other powerful anti-inflammatory seeds is a most powerful remedy.
Effects of Nigella sativa oil extract on inflammatory cytokine response and oxidative stress status in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial
Avicenna J Phytomed. 2016 Jan-Feb; 6(1): 34–43.
Vahid Hadi,1 et al
Source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4884216/
Abstract
Nigella sativa is a medicinal plant that has long been used in traditional medicine for treating various conditions. Numerous animal studies provided evidences that the seed may elicit a broad anti-inflammatory/anti-oxidant activity. The aim of the present clinical trial was to evaluate anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of Nigella sativa oil in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Materials and Methods:
Forty-two patients with RA were assigned into two groups in this randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Subjects in intervention group received two capsules, 500 mg each, of Nigella sativa oil, each day for 8 weeks. The other group consumed two capsules as placebo per day for the same period of time. Serum TNF-α, IL-10, and whole blood levels of oxidative stress parameters were measured at baseline and end of the trial.
Results:
The serum level of IL-10 was increased in the Nigella sativa group (p<0.01). Moreover, treatment with Nigella sativa led to significant reduction of serum MDA and NO compared with baseline (p<0.05). There were no significant differences in the TNF-α, SOD, catalase, and TAS values between or within the groups, before and after the intervention (p>0.05).
Conclusion:
This study indicates that Nigella sativa could improve inflammation and reduce oxidative stress in patients with RA. It is suggested that Nigella sativa may be a beneficial adjunct therapy in this population of patients…
….SUMMARY: In the present study, treatment with Nigella sativa produced a significant reduction of NO and MDA levels.The results were consistent with outcomes provided by previous studies indicating TQ may reduce nitrite production, a parameter for NO synthesis, and decrease both gene expression and protein synthesis levels of iNOS (Umar et al., 2012 ▶; El-Mahmoudy et al., 2002 ▶). It has been reported that TQ supplementation prevents the development of diethylnitrosamine-induced initiation of liver cancer in rats by decreasing oxidative stress biomarkers such as NO (Sayed-Ahmed et al., 2010 ▶). In another study on rabbits, it has been shown that Nigella sativa has hepatoprotective effects against Isoniazid-induced hepatotoxicity, partly by reduction of MDA (Hassan AS et al., 2012 ▶). Nigella sativa supplementation reverses osteoporosis in ovariectomized rats in part by reduction of TNF-alpha and MDA (Seif AA, 2014 ▶).
Unexpectedly, in the present study Nigella sativa did not change serum levels of SOD, CAT, and TAC. It is highly possible that this contradiction between animal model studies and our study rose from lack of administration of anti-inflammatory drugs in animals during those interventions, dose differences, or different experimental conditions.
The suggested mechanism that Nigella sativa may affect both oxidative stress and inflammatory process simultaneously is through inhibition of NF-κB (Wilkins et al., 2011 ▶). Thymoquinone inhibits nuclear expression of NF-κB p65 subunit and inhibits in-vivo binding of p50 subunit to TNF-α promoter (El Gazzar et al., 2007 ▶). TNF-α, IL-6, and a variety of other cytokines are not only up-regulated by NF-κB, but also act as activators of NF-κB leading to perpetuation of pro-inflammatory condition (Ahn et al., 2005 ▶). On the other hand, ROS is known as a considerable cause for tremendous oxidative stress in RA and plays an essential role for both upstream and downstream pathways of NF-κB (Ishibashi et al., 2013 ▶). Hence, Nigella sativa may likely interrupt these interactions via suppression of NF-κB and plays an important part in its anti-oxidant/anti-inflammatory activity (Woo et al., 2012 ▶).
This study demonstrated that Nigella sativa could improve inflammation and reduce oxidative stress in patients with RA and suggested that supplementation with an extract of the seed may be a beneficial adjunctive therapy in this population of patients. We believe that our results will contribute to the clinical application of Nigella sativa in management of patients with RA.