Objective: To investigate the effect of Nigella sativa oil on dexamethasone induced osteoporosis in Wister albino rat's mandible.
Material and Methods: Thirty Wister albino rats were divided into five groups. C group served as control group. D group: rats received injections with dexamethasone at a dose of 5 mg/kg I.P. for two weeks. ND group: the rats received injections with dexamethasone 5 mg/kg I.P for two weeks and intraoral Nigella sativa oil (5 ml/kg). N group: the rats received 5 ml/kg intraoral Nigella sativa oil for two weeks. NDD group; rats receiving I.P injections of dexamethasone 5 mg/kg for 4 weeks, the rats were given intraoral doses of Nigella sativa oil 5 ml/kg every day in the last 2 weeks. Blood levels of parathyroid hormone and calcium were assessed. Rats were euthanized by cervical dislocation then dissection each rat's mandible, Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain. Special stains with Alizarin red and Von-Kossa
Results: N group showed the strongest positive reaction for both Von-kossa and Alizarin red stains. One-way ANOVA test detected the significant differences between five groups Meanwhile, the highest mean value was found in the N group. On the other hand, the lowest mean value was found in the D group. By one-way ANOVA test, the highest value of calcium was existed in N group (10.44±0.56) and while the lowest value was found in D group.
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrated that NS oil was beneficial for preventing and treating mandibular osteoporosis induced by dexamethasone.