title: The effects of Nigella sativa on neural damage after pentylenetetrazole induced seizures in rats.
abstract: Nigella sativa (NS) has been suggested to have neuroprotective and anti-seizures properties. The aim of current study was to investigate the effects of NS hydro-alcoholic extract on neural damage after pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) - induced repeated seizures. The rats were divided into five groups: (1) control (saline), (2) PTZ (50 mg/kg, i.p.), (3-5) PTZ-NS 100, PTZ-NS 200 and PTZ-NS 400 (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of NS extract respectively, 30 min prior to each PTZ injection on 5 consecutive days). The passive avoidance (PA) test was done and the brains were then removed for histological measurements. The PTZ-NS 100, PTZ-NS 200 and PTZ-NS 400 groups had lower seizure scores than PTZ group (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001). The latency to enter the dark compartment by the animals of PTZ group was lower than control in PA test (P < 0.01). Pre-treatment by 400 mg/kg of the extract increased the latency to enter the dark compartment (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, different doses of the extract inhibited production of dark neurons in different regions of hippocampus (P < 0.001). The present study allows us to suggest that the NS possesses a potential ability to prevent hippocampal neural damage which is accompanied with improving effects on memory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Masoumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seghatoleslam
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alipour
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Reihaneh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shafieian
authors.affiliation: Neurogenic Inflammation Research Center and Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hassanzadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, College of Science, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Amin
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Edalatmanesh
authors.affiliation: Pharmacological Research Center of Medicinal Plants, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid Reza
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Sadeghnia
authors.affiliation: Neurocognitive Research Center and Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosseini
keywords: Neural damage; Nigella sativa; Pentylenetetrazole; Rat; Repeated seizures