Cardioprotective Effects of Nigella Sativa and Enalapril in Doxorubicin-induced Cardiotoxicity

Objective: To determine the combined cardioprotective effects of Nigella Sativa and enalapril in doxorubicininduced cardiotoxicity in rats. Study Design: Experimental randomized control trials. Place and Duration of Study: This research was carried out from September 2020 to August 2021, in the department of pharmacology, in collaboration with the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: For this experiment, 4 groups of adult male rats were taken, each containing 10 rats. Group 1 rats acquired a normal diet without any medication throughout the experiment. On day 8 (after acclimatization) cardiotoxicity was induced in groups 2, 3, and 4 rats by administering doxorubicin 5mg/kg intraperitoneally for 3 consecutive days. After the confirmation of cardiotoxicity, Group 3 rats were administered only angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEI) enalapril 2mg/kg, while group 4 rats were given a combination of Nigella sativa 100mg/kg and Enalapril 2mg/kg orally for 14 days. Baseline blood samples were taken on day 0 to obtain normal values of Cardiac Troponin T ( cTnT), Cardiac Troponin I (cTnT), and CK-MB enzyme. To confirm cardiotoxicity 2nd sampling was done on day 11, and the final sampling was done through cardiac puncture on day 26. Serum biochemical estimation was done and data were analyzed through SPSS 22 by using one-way ANOVA and paired t-test. A P-value < 0.05 was believed statistically considerable. Results: Enalapril alone produced significant cardioprotective effects as shown by the marked reduction in cTnT, cTnI, and CKMB levels in group 3 (p<0.05), but combined administration of Nigella sativa and enalapril in group 4 mice produced a more significant reduction in Trop T, Trop I, and CK-MB levels (P <0.05). Conclusion: Nigella sativa and enalapril in combination significantly lower cardiac enzyme in Doxorubicininduced cardiotoxicity in rats.