Dietary Thymoquinone Alone or Combined with Swimming Exercise Protect against Microcystin-LR-Induced Oxidative Injury in Mice

Ahmed E Altyar; Amira Hassan Bekhet; Mohamed Kamel; Ghadeer M Albadrani; Osama A Kensara; Mohamed M Abdel-Daim

doi:10.1155/2023/5643861

Dietary Thymoquinone Alone or Combined with Swimming Exercise Protect against Microcystin-LR-Induced Oxidative Injury in Mice

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2023 Feb 22:2023:5643861. doi: 10.1155/2023/5643861. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ahmed E Altyar^{1

2}, Amira Hassan Bekhet³, Mohamed Kamel⁴, Ghadeer M Albadrani⁵, Osama A Kensara⁶, Mohamed M Abdel-Daim^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80260, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
² Pharmacy Program, Batterjee Medical College, P.O. Box 6231, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia.
³ Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt.
⁴ Department of Medicine and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Giza 12211, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Biology, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Clinical Nutrition, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, P.O. Box 7067, Makkah 21955, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacy Program, Batterjee Medical College, P.O. Box 6231, Jeddah 21442, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Pharmacology Department, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia 41522, Egypt.

Abstract

Microcystin-leucine-arginine (MCLR) is the most abundant cyanotoxin produced by cyanobacteria. It induces potent cytotoxicity through oxidative stress and DNA damage. Thymoquinone (TQ) is a natural nutraceutical antioxidant derived from black cumin (Nigella sativa). Physical exercise (EX) improves whole-body metabolic homeostasis. Therefore, this study examined the protective role of swimming exercise and TQ against MC-induced toxicity in mice. Fifty-six healthy adult male albino mice (25-30 g) were randomized into seven groups; group (I) was the negative control and received oral physiological saline for 21 days; group (II) received water EX for 30 min daily; group (III) was intraperitoneally injected with TQ (5 mg/kg daily, for 21 days); group (IV) was intraperitoneally administered MC (10 μg/kg daily, for 14 days) and acted as the positive toxic control; group (V) was treated with MC and water EX; group (VI) was injected with MC and TQ; finally, group (VII) was treated with MC with TQ and water EX. In comparison with the control group, the results showed hepatic, renal, and cardiac toxicity in the MCLR-treated group, indicated by a significant increase (p < 0.05) in serum levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transferase (ALT), cholesterol, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase (CK), creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB), urea, creatinine, interleukin-6, interleukin -1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α levels. In addition, there were significant elevations (p < 0.05) in malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) levels and a significant decrease in reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) in hepatic, cardiac, and renal tissues. Treatment with either TQ or water EX significantly improved (p < 0.05) the MC-induced toxicity with superiority of the TQ group in the restoration of normal ranges; however, cotreatment with both TQ and swimming EX showed the most improvement and restoration to normal ranges as a result of increasing EX clinical efficacy by TQ.