fatty acid mixtures from nigella sativa protects pc12 cells from oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by doxorubicin

Background: fatty acids (fas), the key structural elements of dietary lipids, are notable in the nutritional value of plants. black cumin, a popular anti-inflammatory and antioxidant food seasoning, contains nonpolar constituents such as fas. methods: seeds were extracted using hexane and their cytoprotective activity was assessed against doxorubicin (dox)-mediated oxidative stress and apoptosis in pc12 cell line. results: in spite of the cellular death induced by dox toward pc12 cells, bioassay-guided purification showed that pretreatment with fas mixtures (24h) attenuated dox-mediated apoptosis, which could be attributed to the inhibited caspase 3 activity and enhanced mitochondrial membrane potential. palmitic acid, caprylic acid and oleic acid each 1/3 in the mixture, also suppressed dox-induced ros generation. conclusion: our observation indicated that the subtoxic concentration of fas from nigella sativa could effectively protect the cells against oxidative stress, due to their antioxidant activity, and could be regarded as a dietary supplement.