The effect of long-term oral administration of Nigella. sativum on the contractile reactivity of thoracic aorta in diabetic rats

Introduction: Therapeutics, especially medical plants with minimum side-effects are of high value in preventing vascular complications of diabetes mellitus in long term. Considering the evidences about the anti-diabetic effects of Nigella. Sativum (NS), the current study was conducted to evaluate the effect of oral two-month administration of NS on the contractile reactivity of isolated aorta in male diabetic rats. Material & Methods: Male Wistar rats (n=32) were randomly divided into control, NS-treated control, diabetic, and NS-treated diabetic groups. For induction of diabetes, streptozotcin (STZ) was intraperitoneally administered. The treatment groups were received oral administration of NS-mixed pelleted food (6.25%) for two months. After two months, the contractile reactivity of aortic rings to KCl and noreadrenaline was determined using isolated tissue setup. Results: Contractile response to cumulative KCl and noreadrenaline followed a dose-dependent pattern in aortic rings in all groups. In addition, the maximum contractile reactivity was significantly higher in the diabetic group compared to the control one (p