Abstract

Background: An interaction has been reported between Nigella Sativa (NS) and ranitidine (RAN) on gastric ulceration induced by ethanol in rabbits; the combination NS and RAN caused disappearance of anti-ulcer effect of NS or RAN.
Objective: to investigate interaction of NS with a proton pump inhibitor omeprazole (OMP) on ethanol induced gastric ulceration in rabbits.
Methods: 24 mature rabbits were divided into 4 groups. The animals were fasted for 48 hours then treated as follow: group 1, 2, 3 and 4 were treated respectively with normal saline (oral), NS oil (10ml/kg) orally, OMP (20mg/kg) IP, and NS+ OMP. One hour later, animals were given absolute ethanol orally; and sacrificed 3 hours later for estimation of Ulcer index (UI), gastric pH, malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), histamine (HIS) levels in serum and gastric tissue.
Results: Ethanol induced gastric ulceration in all animals with an UI of 10 ± 0.11 mm2. This effect was paralleled with reduction in gastric pH, increased MDA and HIS and reduction in GSH. UI was reduced to 5.13 ± 0.68 mm2 in NS group, P value = 0.07 and to around zero in OMP group. NS or OMP treatment resulted in reduction in serum and tissue MDA and HIS levels and increased in GSH and gastric pH levels. In NS + OMP treated group, UI became higher than OMP group with MDA and HIS tended to rise and GSH and gastric pH declined.
Conclusion: NS + OMP diminished the gastro-protective effect of either NS or OMP.