Abstract
The objective of the present study was to determine the immunomodulatory role of thymoquinone (TQ) regarding its effect
on the production of nitric oxide (NO) by rat peritoneal macrophages. Under certain conditions, macrophages and certain other
cells can produce high concentrations of NO from its precursor L-arginine via inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) pathway.
TQ has been established as the major component of the oil extracted from Nigella sativa plant seeds, which is being used
frequently in herbal medicine. TQ (IC50 1.4–2.76 AM) dose- and time-dependently reduced nitrite production, a parameter for
NO synthesis, in supernatants of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated (5 Ag/ml) macrophages without affecting the cell
viability. The protein level of iNOS in peritoneal macrophages was also decreased by TQ in a concentration-dependent manner.
In addition, TQ inhibited the increase in iNOS mRNA expression induced by LPS indicated by reverse transcriptionpolymerase
chain reaction (RT-PCR). These inhibitory effects of TQ were confirmed by immunofluorescence staining of iNOS
in macrophages which showed decreased immunoreactivity for iNOS after treatment with TQ if compared with the control LPSstimulated
cells. These results suggest that TQ suppresses the production of NO by macrophages; an effect which may be useful
in ameliorating the inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. |
