Effect of oral ingestion of Nigella sativa seeds on some blood parameters

The effect of 2 weeks daily treatment with 2 g Nigella sativa [N. sativa] on the blood levels of glucose, uric acid, cholesterol, triglycerides, BUN and creatinine was studied on 16 second year male medical students. Nine students took 2 capsules of 500 mg N. sativa twice daily and served as the test group. Seven students served as controls and took 2 capsules of 500 mg brown sugar twice daily. In the test group, the parameters which showed a significant decrease by the end of the first week of treatment were glucose [p < 0.01] and cholesterol [p = 0.05]. However, both levels went up by the end of the second week of the treatment but remained below baseline. Creatinine was significantly elevated [p < 0.01] by the end of the first week. Uric acid showed a progressive but a nonsignificant decrease. A finding of interest was that the control group showed a progressive and significant increase in uric acid. It is concluded that N. sativa has a potential reducing effect on the blood levels of both glucose and cholesterol

Effect of Nigella sativa on ingestion ability of mice peritoneal macrophages

This study was designed to examine the potential effect of Nigella sativa [the black seed or kammoun aswed] on ingestion of yeast cells by macrophages. The authentic Hadeeth of the Messenger of Allah on the Black seed my give a clue of the possible effect on the immune system. Therefore, the design of our study was based on this hint. A total of 84 white albino mice were used; 42 mice were tested by feeding with the black seed enriched food while another group of 42 mice were used as controls and were fed only normal food. Both groups of animals were challenged by intraperitoneal injection of dead candida albicans. There was a significant enhancement of ingestion in the tested mice with a mean +/- SD of 82.43 +/- 18.62 as compared to 60.81 +/- 11.59 in the control mice [P < 0.01] as shown by the higher percentage of peritoneal macrophages ingesting the organism. Electron microscopical studies showed no differences between macrophages of the two groups apart from the degree of ingestion ability

Pulmonary function tests in normal Saudi school children

Pulmonary function tests were done in normal Saudi children [215 boys, 130 girls] ranging in age from 6 to 17 years. The children were selected at random from various primary and secondary schools in Dammam and Al Khobar, two major cities in the Eastern Province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The variables measured were vital capacity [VC], forced vital; capacity [FVC], forced expiratory volume in the first second [FEV1], FEV1/FEC%, and forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of FVC [FEF25-75%]. In general, the values were higher in boys than in girls of the same age. VC was consistently lower than FVC in both sexes. With the exception of FEV1/FVC%, all variables showed good correlations with age, height, and weight. The FVC and FEV1 values in our study were lower than those reported for Jordainan children. Prediction formulas for each variable were determined