The Effect of Black Seed Oil on the Improvement of Chemotherapy Induced Stomatitis in Rat

Background and Objectives: Animal studies have shown that Nigella sativa oil facilitates wound healing process. The aim of this research was to investigate the therapeutic effect of Nigella sativa oil on chemotherapy-induced stomatitis.   Methods: In this experimental study, a total of 72 healthy Wistar rats, were randomly divided into three groups [control, placebo, and recipient of black seed oil (treatment)]. The animals were given an intraperitoneal injection of 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) at doses of 100 and 65mg/kg bw, respectively, on day 1 and 3. Their cheek mucosa was scratched using the tip of an 18-gauge needle on day 3. The rats of the sham injection and treatment groups, intraperitoneally received placebo and Nigella sativa oil daily at the dose of 400μl/kg, respectively. Eight rats in each group, were sacrificed on days 4, 6, and 8, and sampling from their mucus, was performed for histopathological evaluation of the inflammation severity. The data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney U-tests.   Results: Regardless of the time variable, the severity of mucosal inflammation in the treatment group, was significantly lower compared to the control and placebo groups. However, considering the time variable, this difference was significant only on the fourth day and in the following days, there was no difference between the three groups.   Conclusion: The findings of this study revealed that intraperitoneal administration of black seed oil can reduce the acute inflammation score in chemotherapy-induced stomatitis.