Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access

Abstract

Use of Nigella sativa Linn. Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Extract for Targeting the Angiogenesis Cascade

Baharetha HM, Nassar ZD, Ahamed MK, Aisha AFA, Alfadly SO, Kadir MOA and Majid AMSA

The aim of this study was to investigate the antiangiogenic effect of the Nigella sativa seeds extracts. Twelve extracts were prepared from the N. sativa seeds by supper critical carbon dioxide by varying extraction pressure and temperature. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 22 compounds, mainly thymoquinone (TQ), thymohydroquinone and androstane-3,17-diol. The extracts showed significant antioxidant activity, and cell viability study on human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) indicated that two extracts (A3 and B3), prepared at higher temperature (60°C) and the lower pressures (2500 and 3000 psi), were the most potent anti-proliferative extracts; the median inhibitory concentrations were 41.5 ± 1.9 and 60.2 ± 2.2 μg/mL, respectively. The extracts down-regulated the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in endothelia cells causing inhibition of various events of the angiogenesis cascade including; cell proliferation, endothelial cell migration and differentiation on matrigel and consequently inhibited tube formation. The extracts also showed significant inhibition of angiogenesis in vivo by inhibiting the vascularization of the chicken embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM). The antiangiogenic activity observed could be due to the anti-oxidant nature of the extract. This study highlights the importance of N. sativa SCCO 2 oil as anti-angiogenic agent.