Nigella sativa (Black seeds) has been recognized as one of the most popular herbs in many
parts of the world for centuries. It was used in the world as folk medicine to cure different kinds of diseases. This plant has been considered as one of the main sources of nutrition and healthcare for humans as well as animals. It has been perceived as Kalonji; it is a southwest Asian plan t that flowers annually. The seeds and oil of this plant have been used in food; in addition, it has a long history in the making of medicines. In addition to its being a model plant for better realization of gene and chromosome relationship, the plant species is also significant cytogenetically. Plant based system has not been absorbed fully for human health care despite the remarkable advancements in the field of pharmacology. Cumin, as one of the medicinal plants gifted to humans by nature, has a number of potential uses. It has been proved to be a
useful herbal medicines that can be used for human health and therefore has been extensively studied and investigated to further discover the advantages of this plant.
The fixed oil of black cumin seeds, Nigella sativa L. (NSO), has shown considerable antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion has been linked to neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and its subsequent cognitive impairment in which oxidative stress and neuroinflammation are the principal culprits. Cerebrovascular hypoperfusion was experimentally achieved by bilateral common carotid arteries occlusion (2VO) in rats. Morris water maze (MWM) test was employed to assess the effects of NSO on spatial cognitive function before and after 2VO intervention. Rats were divided into long-term memory (LTM) and short-term memory (STM) groups, each was further subdivided into 3 subgroups: sham control, untreated 2VO and NSO treated 2VO group. All subgroups were tested with MWM at the tenth postoperative week. Working memory test results for both sham control and NSO treated groups showed significantly lower escape latency time and total distance travelled than untreated 2VO group. Similarly, LTM and STM MWM tests for sham control and NSO treated groups revealed significantly better maze test performance as compared to untreated 2VO group. Sham control and NSO treated 2VO groups demonstrated superior probe memory test performance as compared to untreated 2VO group. The fixed oil of Nigella sativa seeds has demonstrated noticeable spatial cognitive preservation in rats challenged with chronic cerebral hypoperfusion which indicates a promising prospective neuroprotective effect.
Introduction:Obesity prevalence in Malaysian adults aged 18 and above has more than tripled over the past 20 years with 4.5% in 1996 to 17.7% in 2015. The alarming trend of the obesity epidemic in Malaysia requires im-mediate revision of public health policies. Thus this review was conducted to determine the effectiveness of latest weight reduction strategies. Methods: Literature search was conducted as guided by PICO Framework and using online databases PubMed on 22 June 2018. A total of 2,203 articles were found and screened. A total of 26 articles were reviewed. Results: Most weight loss achieved is through surgical intervention with weight reduction of 20.8 kg compared to 8.5 kg reduction in control group (95% CI, p < 0.001). Non-invasive procedures that produced greatest weight reduction include diet modification strategy consisting of isocaloric diet with large breakfast (700 kcal) which produced weight reduction of 8.7 ± 1.4 kg compared to large dinner (700 kcal) 3.6 ± 1.5 kg (95% CI, p < 0.0001, and special diet of adding 3g/day cumin supplementation into normal diet which produced weight reduction of 6.2 kg compared to 4.19 kg reduction in control group (95% CI, p < 0.05. Conclusion: In this review, most weight loss is achieved through surgical intervention. All patients should receive lifestyle therapy and additional consideration should be given for pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery when indicated.