Leila Hosseinzadeh
1, Shima Soheili
2, Nastaran Ghiasvand
1, Farahnaz Ahmadi
1, Yalda Shokoohinia
1,3*1 Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, School of Pharmacy, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
2 Student Research Committee, School of Pharmacy, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
3 Department of Pharmacognosy and Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Abstract
Background: Fatty acids (FAs), the key structural elements of dietary lipids, are notable in the nutritional value of plants. Black cumin, a popular anti-inflammatory and antioxidant food seasoning, contains nonpolar constituents such as FAs. Methods: Seeds were extracted using hexane and their cytoprotective activity was assessed against doxorubicin (DOX)-mediated oxidative stress and apoptosis in PC12 cell line. Results: In spite of the cellular death induced by DOX toward PC12 cells, bioassay-guided purification showed that pretreatment with FAs mixtures (24h) attenuated DOX-mediated apoptosis, which could be attributed to the inhibited caspase 3 activity and enhanced mitochondrial membrane potential. Palmitic acid, caprylic acid and oleic acid each 1/3 in the mixture, also suppressed DOX-induced ROS generation. Conclusion: Our observation indicated that the subtoxic concentration of FAs from Nigella sativa could effectively protect the cells against oxidative stress, due to their antioxidant activity, and could be regarded as a dietary supplement.