Effect of Nigella sativa seeds on the glycemic control of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus is a common chronic disease affecting millions of people world wide. Standard treatment is failing to achieve required correction of blood glucose in many patients. Therefore, there is a need for investigating potential hypoglycemic drugs or herbs to improve glycemic control in diabetic patients. Nigella sativa seeds were used as an adjuvant therapy in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 added to their anti-diabetic medications. A total of 94 patient were recruited and divided randomly into three dose groups. Capsules containing Nigella sativa were administered orally in a dose of 1, 2 and 3 gm/day for three months. The effect of Nigella sativa on the glycemic control was assessed through measurement of fasting blood glucose (FBG), blood glucose level 2 hours postprandially (2 hPG), and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA 1c ). Serum C-peptide and changes in body weight were also measured. Insulin resistance and β-cell function were calculated using the homeostatic model assessment (HOMA2). Nigella sativa at a dose of 2 g m/day caused significant reductions in FBG, 2hPG, and HbA 1c without significant change in body weight. Fasting blood glucose was reduced by an average of 45, 62 and 56 mg/dl at 4, 8 and 12 weeks respectively. HbA 1c was reduced by 1.52% at the end of the 12 weeks of treatment (P<0.0001). Insulin resistance calculated by HOMA2 was reduced significantly (P<0.01), while β -cell function was increased (P<0.02) at 12 weeks of treatment. The use of Nigella sativa in a dose of 1 g m/day also showed trends in improvement in all the measured parameters but it was not statistically significant from the baseline. However, no further increment in the