Planta Med 2005; 71(8): 739-742
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-871288
Original Paper
Pharmacology
© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

In vitro Inhibitory Effects of Thymol and Quinones of Nigella sativa Seeds on Cyclooxygenase-1- and -2-Catalyzed Prostaglandin E2 Biosyntheses

Petr Marsik1 , Ladislav Kokoska2 , Premysl Landa2 , Ales Nepovim1 , Petr Soudek1 , Tomas Vanek1
  • 1Department of Plant Tissue Cultures, Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic
  • 2Department of Crop Sciences and Agroforestry, Institute of Tropics and Subtropics, Czech University of Agriculture Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Further Information

Publication History

Received: October 21, 2004

Accepted: May 23, 2005

Publication Date:
11 August 2005 (online)

Abstract

Dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, thymol and thymoquinone, compounds derived from N. sativa seeds, were investigated for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activities using cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and -2 (COX-2) assays. Our results show that all substances tested possess significant inhibitory activity against at least one COX form at concentrations comparable to the active one of indomethacin. Thymol was the most active against COX-1 with an IC50 value of 0.2 μM while thymohydroquinone and thymoquinone exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on COX-2 with IC50 values of 0.1 and 0.3 μM, respectively. Moreover, dithymoquinone and thymoquinone showed a limited COX-2-specific inhibition. We conclude that dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, thymol and thymoquinone can participate in the general anti-inflammatory activity of N. sativa and suggest that these agents should be further studied for possible use as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

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Dr. Tomas Vanek

Department of Plant Tissue Cultures

Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry

Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic

Flemingovo nam. 2

166 10 Prague

Czech Republic

Phone: +42-2-2018-3342

Fax: +42-2-2018-3574

Email: vanek@uochb.cas.cz