Anticancer Activity of Nigella sativa (Black Seed) — A Review

摘要

Nigella sativa (N. sativa) seed has been an important nutritional flavoring agent andnnatural remedy for many ailments for centuries in ancient systems of medicine, e.g. Unani,nAyurveda, Chinese and Arabic Medicines. Many active components have been isolated fromnN. sativa, including thymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, dithymoquinone, thymol, carvacrol,nnigellimine-N-oxide, nigellicine, nigellidine and alpha-hederin. In addition, quite a fewnpharmacological effects of N. sativa seed, its oil, various extracts and active componentsnhave been identified to include immune stimulation, anti-inflammation, hypoglycemic,nantihypertensive, antiasthmatic, antimicrobial, antiparasitic, antioxidant and anticancerneffects. Only a few authors have reviewed the medicinal properties of N. sativa and givennsome description of the anticancer effects. A literature search has revealed that a lot morenstudies have been recently carried out related to the anticancer activities of N. sativa andnsome of its active compounds, such as thymoquinone and alpha-hederin. Acute and chronicntoxicity studies have recently confirmed the safety of N. sativa oil and its most abundantnactive component, thymoquinone, particularly when given orally. The present work is aimednat summarizing the extremely valuable work done by various investigators on the effects ofnN. sativa seed, its extracts and active principles against cancer. Those related to the underlyingnmechanism of action, derivatives of thymoquinone, nano thymoquinone and combinationsnof thymoquinone with the currently used cytotoxic drugs are of particular interest.nWe hope this review will encourage interested researchers to conduct further preclinical andnclinical studies to evaluate the anticancer activities of N. sativa, its active constituents andntheir derivatives.