Author : Rehab Ali,Radwa ElSharkawy
CoAuthors : Samia M.Kamal
Source : The Journal of American Science
Date of Publication : 01/2012
Abstract :
This study investigated the effect of Nigella Sativa (N.sativa) on the histological features of parotid
salivary glands of aging albino rats and its role on the activity of the glands for secretion of insulin- and glucagonlike peptides. Forty five male albino rats aged ten months were kept on the laboratory diet over a period of two
months. Then, they were divided into three equal groups; young control (sacrificed at the end of the two months), old
control (sacrificed three months later) and the experimental group (supplemented with N. sativa in a daily dose of
300mg/200gm body weight over a period of three months and then sacrificed). The parotid glands were then
dissected out and subjected to histological and immunohistochemical investigations. The results showed only
minimal amount of fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in the N. sativa supplemented group. There were no
distinctive changes in the architecture of the glands compared to that of young control. They did not show the
prominent extensive features of aging manifested in the old aged control group. Moreover, the N. sativa
supplemented group showed obvious increase in immunohistochemical reactivities for insulin and glucagon in the
glandular tissue when compared to the rats of old control. Finally it could be concluded that N.sativa has got a
cytoprotective effect against the degenerative changes of age and a beneficial role on the integrity of parotid salivary
glands of aged rat. Also, N. sativa has been shown to increase the activity of parenchymal cells of rat parotid gland
for insulin and glucagon that was markedly diminished with advance of age
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