the effects of nigella sativa on sickness behavior induced by lipopolysaccharide in male wistar rats

objective: neuroimmune factors contribute on the pathogenesis of sickness behaviors. nigella sativa (ns) has anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety and anti-depressive effects. in the present study, the effect of ns hydro-alcoholic extract on sickness behavior induced by lipopolysaccharide (lps) was investigated. materials and methods: the rats were divided into five groups (n=10 in each): (1) control (saline), (2) lps (1 mg/kg, administered two hours before behavioral tests), (3-5) lps-nigella sativa 100 , 200 and 400 mg/kg (lps-ns 100, lps-ns 200 and lps-ns 400, respectively). open- field (of), elevated plus maze (epm) and forced swimming test (fst) were performed. results: in of, lps reduced the peripheral crossing, peripheral distance, total crossing and total distance compared to control (pconclusion: the results of the present study showed that the hydro-alcoholic extract of ns reduced the lps-induced sickness behaviors in rats. further investigations are required for better understanding the responsible compound (s) and the underlying mechanism(s).