The protective effect of α-hederin, the active constituent of Nigella sativa, on tracheal responsiveness and lung inflammation in ovalbumin-sensitized guinea pigs

Table 1 Values of tracheal response to methacholine (EC50-Met) and histamine (EC50-His), response to ovalbumin (OA), contractility and total white blood cells (WBCs) of LLF in control (C), sensitized (S), S treated with thymoquinone (S + TQ), S treated with low-dose (S + LAH) and high-dose α-hederin (S + HAH) guinea pigs (for each group, n = 6)

	C	S	S + TQ	S + LAH	S + HAH
EC50-Met (µM)	3.95 ± 0.85	0.56 ± 0.22	0.77 ± 0.04	2.87 ± 0.87	2.22 ± 0.72
		++	++ ns	NS *	NS ns
				#	# ns
Contractility	0.60 ± 0.05	1.68 ± 0.08	1.03 ± 0.24	0.93 ± 0.12	0.98 ± 0.15
		+++	NS *	+ ***	+ *
				ns	ns ns
EC50-His (µM)	9.92 ± 1.14	1.54 ± 0.70	5.23 ± 1.67	4.94 ± 1.09	5.73 ± 1.44
		+++	+ ns	+ *	+ *
				ns	ns ns
OA	1.9 ± 1.15	72.88 ± 9.28	15.01 ± 2.37	7.78 ± 1.01	3.5 ± 1.18
		+++	+++ ***	++ ***	NS ***
				#	## !
Total WBC count	333.17 ± 31.11	878.33 ± 96.11	479.17 ± 50.62	368.33 ± 53.00	407.33 ± 62.47
		+++	+ **	NS ***	NS **
				ns	ns ns

Values are presented as mean ± SEM. The WBC data are their counts in 1 ml of LLF. Statistical differences between the data of control vs. other groups: NS nonsignificant difference; +, p < 0.05; ++, p < 0.01; +++, p < 0.001. Statistical differences between the data of sensitized vs. pretreated groups: ns nonsignificant difference; *, p < 0.05; **, p < 0.01; ***, p < 0.001. Statistical differences between the S + TQ group vs. the S + LAH and S + HAH groups: ns nonsignificant difference; #, p < 0.05; ##, p < 0.01. Statistical differences between the S + LAH and S + HAH groups: ns nonsignificant difference; !, p < 0.05

ISSN: 1880-6562