Cisplatin-Induced Oral Mucositis Prevention: Nigella sativa’s Anti-Inflammatory Role through NFκB Pathway

Prevention of Cisplatin-induced oral mucositis (OM) Presents substantial challenges due to its association with oxidative stress, inflammation, apoptosis and NFκB pathway activation. This study aims to evaluate the potential of Nigella sativa (NS) extract in inhibiting a cisplatin-induced oral mucositis. Cisplatin-induced oral mucositis was modeled in experimental groups treated with varying doses of NS extract (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg BW), compared to negative controls and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as a positive control. Expression levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were analysed under Western blot analysis, the p50 and p65 gene expression level was determined by qRT-PCR analysis. NS extract notably inhibited TNF-α expression compared to the negative control group, akin to the positive control (NAC). Additionally, NS extract exhibited a dose-dependent regulation of NFκB pathway subunits (p50 and p65) towards levels closer to the baseline, indicating its potential in modulating the inflammatory pathway. The findings suggest that NS extract possesses promising therapeutic potential in mitigating inflammation and NFκB pathway activation in cisplatin-induced oral mucositis. HIGHLIGHTS As far as we have seen, similar studies in experimental animals using Nigella sativa oil related to histopathological findings of oral mucositis due to cisplatin. This study demonstrated Nigella sativa (NS) extract’s potential in mitigating cisplatin-induced oral mucositis (OM) by inhibiting TNF-α and modulating NFκB pathway subunits (p50 and p65). This highlights NS extract as a promising therapeutic agent for OM associated with cisplatin treatment.