In Vitro Development Of Pancreatic Beta Cells Of Rat (Rattus Norvegicus) In Culture Medium Supplemented By Black Seed (Nigella Sativa) Extract

Abstract

Nigella sativa (black seed) is a medicinal plant that is widely used for treating various diseases, including diabetes mellitus. This study examined the proliferation and differentiation of pancreatic β cells of rats (Rattus norvegicus) after in vitro culture in medium supplemented by Nigella sativa extracts (NS). Pancreatic cells were isolated from five days old rat (Rattus norvegicus) and cultured in dulbecco modified eagle medium suplemented with Nigella sativa (NS) exstract (NS 0% [control], NS 1%, and NS 10% for treatment groups). The cell were incubated in 5 % CO2 incubator at 37 oC for seven days and observed cell population doubling time (PDT), percentage and diameter of Langerhans islets, and percentage of expression the β cell producing insulin in Langerhans islets after dithizone staining. The result showed that NS significantly (p < 0.05) decreased the population doubling time (4.66 ± 0.24, 3.98 ± 0.20, and 3.66 ± 0.21 days for NS 0%, NS 1%, and NS 10%, respectively), increased the percentage of Langerhans islets (6.00 ± 1.80, 14.33 ± 3.01, and 18.67 ± 1.25% for NS 0%, NS 1%, and NS 10%, respectively), increased the diameter of Langerhans islets (66.11 ± 2.09, 101.66 ± 0.83, and 142.77 ± 1.73 μm for NS 0%, NS 1%, and NS 10%, respectively), and increased the percentage of expression the β cell producing insulin (4.67 ± 0.57, 9.67 ± 2.08, and 17.33 ± 3.21% for NS 0%, NS 1%, and NS 10%, respectively). It was concluded that the supplementation of NS in culture medium can improve the proliferation and differentiation of pancreatic cells in vitro.