Immunohistochemical study of the effect ofnigellasativalextractonchemotherapy induced oral mucositis in albino rats

Abstract EN

Background: Mucositis is a common side-effect of high-dose chemotherapy regimens.

The black seed Nigella sativa L (NS) represents a rich source of thymoquinone (TQ) with the potential to exert anti-inflammatory and anti-neoplastic effects.

We evaluated NS for its capacity to decrease the severity of chemotherapy-induced mucositis in a rat model.

METHOD: twenty five male albino rats were randomly divided into control group, untreated group and treated group.

A model of chemotherapy induced mucositis was established by intraperitoneal injection of 5- flouro-uracil (FU) [150 mg/kg] and the right cheek pouch was scratched with a wire brush to induce mucositis.

Rats in the untreated group received physiologic saline orally.

The rats in treated group were gavaged with 1 ml NS seed extract (400 mg/kg) daily (day 5-13).

Rats were sacrificed at day 14, the cheek pouch areas were excised and prepared for histological and immunohistochemical analysis using Bcl-2 and PCNA immunolabelling.

Results : Compared with controls and 5-FU untreated rats, NS decreased the histologically observed damage of the cheek mucosa in the mucositis model, reduced Bcl-2 immunoreactivity and increased expression of PCNA.

Based on these observations NS seemed to attenuate the 5-FU-induced reduction of mucosal thickness and ameliorate oral mucosal damage induced by 5-FU in rats.

NS may represent a promising prophylactic adjunct to conventional chemotherapy for reducing the severity of oral mucositis.