Evaluation on Anti-Inflammatory, Analgesic, Antitumor, and Antioxidant Potential of Total Saponins from Nigella glandulifera Seeds

Nigella glandulifera seeds are used as a spice or remedy for the treatment of various inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to investigate analgesic (writhing test), anti-inflammatory (ear-induced edema, vascular permeability test), antioxidant, and antitumor activities of total saponins from this plant (TSN). TSN (6, 12, and 24 mg/kg) were exhibited analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.05). In D-galactose-induced ageing model, TSN significantly increased the plasma superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activities (P < 0.05) and decreased the malondialdehyde (MDA) level compared to control group (P < 0.05). DPPH radical scavenging effect of TSN was also found. Moreover, TSN (20 mg/mL) showed 86.75% and 88.26% inhibition of the growth on Bel-7402 and Hela cells, respectively. Five compounds were further isolated and identified from TSN as Nigella A, B, C, D, and nigeglanoside, of which the content of Nigella A was 60.36 ± 1.25 g/100 g TSN by HPLC-ELSD method. Altogether, these results suggest that TSN could be considered as a potential analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antioxidant agent.