Efficacy of Black Seeds Oil (Nigella sativa) against Hymenolepis nana in Infected Mice
Wafa A. I. Al-Megrin *
Department of Biology, Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University, Saudi Arabia
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Recently, many biological activities (e.g., antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antimicrobial, antifungal and antiparasitic) of Nigella sativa seeds have been reported. We carried out this study to investigate the therapeutic potential of Nigella sativa oil as an alternative and safe treatment against Hymenolepis nana based on an experimental study of white laboratory mice. Twenty-eight Swiss albino mice naturally infected with H. nana were divided into three groups; one group functioned as the control, and the remaining two groups were fed daily doses of black seed oil (2.5 and 5 ml/kg, respectively). We found that the efficacy of the 5 ml/kg Nigella sativa oil dose against H. nana attained 100% 14 days after treatment; the efficacy of the 2.5 ml/kg Nigella sativa oil dose attained an efficacy of 100% 21 days after treatment. Our results indicate that N. sativa oil exhibits significant efficacy against H. nana in infected mice.
Keywords: Nigella sativa oil, Hymenolepis nana, efficacy, treatment