Evaluation of the effects of thymoquinone on red blood cell deformability, morphology, and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) synthesis in rat lower extremity ischemia-reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND: Erythrocyte deformability refers to the ability of erythrocytes to bend and twist as they pass through capillaries, which is crucial for tissue perfusion. This study aims to investigate the effects of Thymoquinone treatment on erythrocyte deformability in rats subjected to lower extremity ischemia-reperfusion injury.
METHODS: The study was conducted on Wistar albino rats weighing 400-450 g. The rats were randomly divided into five groups: the control group (C), in which no treatment was applied; the group that received dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a solvent; the group subjected to 90 minutes of ischemia followed by 90 minutes of reperfusion in the main femoral artery of the lower extremity (IR); the Thymoquinone control group (TQ-C), in which the effects of Thymoquinone alone were examined; and the group that received intraperitoneal Thymoquinone one hour before the ischemia-reperfusion procedure (IR+TQ). At the end of the procedure, intracardiac blood was collected from the rats, and May-Grunwald and Giemsa (MGG) staining, endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), and erythrocyte deformability indexes were measured.
RESULTS: The study results showed significant differences. Erythrocyte deformability was statistically significantly improved in the group that received Thymoquinone before ischemia-reperfusion compared to the group subjected to ischemia-reperfusion only. Mor-phological changes in erythrocytes were also statistically significantly better in the IR+TQ group than in the IR group. Immunohisto-chemical eNOS staining revealed that eNOS activity in the IR group was lower than in the IR+TQ group.
CONCLUSION: Our study demonstrates that Thymoquinone treatment administered before ischemia exerts protective effects against erythrocyte deformation and morphological deterioration by increasing eNOS activity.

Sýçan alt ekstremite iskemi-reperfüzyon hasarýnda timokinonun kýrmýzý kan hücresi deforme edilebilirliði, morfolojisi ve eNOS sentezi üzerine etkilerinin deðerlendirilmesi

AMAÇ: Eritrosit deformabilitesi eritrositlerin kapiller damarlardan geçerken yaptýklarý eðilip bükülme hareketidir ve doku perfüzyonu için hayati öneme sahiptir. Çalýþmamýzda alt ekstremite iskemi-reperfüzyon uygulanan ratlarda Thymoquinone tedavisinin eritrosit deformabilitesini nasýl etkilediði araþtýrýlmýþtýr.
GEREÇ VE YÖNTEM: Çalýþmamýzda aðýrlýklarý 400-450 gr arasýnda deðiþen wistar albino ratlar kullanýldý. Ratlar rastgele 5 gruba ayýrýldý. Herhangi bir iþlem uygulanmayan kontrol grubu (C), yalnýzca çözücü madde DMSO verilen grup (DMSO), alt ekstremie ana femoral arterden 90 dakika iskemi ve 90 dakika reperfüzyon uygulanan grup (IR), Thymoquinone’un tek baþýna etkilerinin incelendiði Thymoquinone control grubu (TQ-C) ve iskemi reperfüzyon prosedüründen 1 saat önce intraperitoneal Thymoquinone verilen grup (IR+TQ). Prosedür bitiminde ratlrdan intrakardiak kan alýnarak May-Grunwald ve Giemsa (MGG), endotelial nitrik oksit sentaz (eNOS) ve eritrosit deformabilite indexleri çalýþýldý.
BULGULAR: Çalýþma sonuçlarýnda anlamlý deðiþikliklere rastlanýldý. Ýskemi reperfüzyon öncesi Thymoquinone verilen grupta eritrosit deformabilitesi sadece iskemi reperfüzyon yapýlan gruba göre istatiksel anlamlý olarak daha iyi tespit edildi. Eritrositlerin morfolojik deðiþiklikleri de IR+TQ grubunda IR grubuna göre istatiksel anlamlý olarak daha iyi bulundu. Ýmmünohistokimyasak eNOS boyamasýnda ise IR grubundaki eNOS aktivitesinin IR+TQ grubuna göre daha düþük düzeyde olduðu tespit edildi.
SONUÇ: Çalýþma sonuçlarýmýzda iskemi öncesi uygulanan Thymoquinone tedavisinin eNOS aktivitesini arttýrarak eritrosit deformasyonunu ve eritrositlerin morfolojik bozulmalarýna karþý koruyucu özelliðinin olduðunu gösterdi.