In vitro inhibitory effects of thymol and quinones of Nigella sativa seeds on cyclooxygenase-1-and-2-catalyzed prostaglandin E2 biosyntheses

Dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, thymol and thymoquinone, compounds derived from N. sativa seeds, were investigated for their in vitro anti-inflammatory activities using cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) and 2 (COX-2) assays. Our results show that all substances tested possess significant inhibitory activity against at least one COX form at concentrations comparable to the active one of indomethacin. Thymol was the most active against COX-1 with an IC50 value of 0.2 mu M while thymohydroquinone and thymoquinone exhibited the strongest inhibitory effect on COX-2 with IC50 values of 0.1 and 0.3 mu M, respectively. Moreover, dithymoquinone and thymoquinone showed a limited COX-2-specific inhibition. We conclude that dithymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, thymol and thymoquinone can participate in the general anti-inflammatory activity of N. sativa and suggest that these agents should be further studied for possible use as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.