Abstract
In recent years, pathogens have adopted various mechanisms to combat the onslaught of currently available antibiotics. This led to the emergence of the phenomenon of antibiotic resistance in microorganisms. Antibiotic resistance has rendered many previously effective antibiotics into useless chemicals that are resulting in the dearth of available therapeutic options to treat some very serious infections. Moreover, the widespread antibiotic resistance is also contributing to a very high economic burden on the population by increasing the cost of treatment. It compelled the scientists and clinicians to find new antimicrobials that are safe and effective with chances of antibiotic resistance. Medicinal plants and their extracts have been in use for hundreds of years to treat many infectious diseases. In the current chapter, we are describing the therapeutic potentials of thymoquinone (TQ), an active component of N. sativa, in treatment of common infectious diseases. TQ showed activities against a wide range of microorganisms including bacteria, fungi, and viruses. TQ not only inhibited the growth of certain pathogenic bacteria but also prevented the formation of biofilms, an important virulence factor in bacterial diseases. Furthermore, TQ also lowered the MICs of standard antibacterials when used in combination. TQ also demonstrated an antifungal activity against some very important fungal pathogens including Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus, and certain dermatophytes. A limited numbers of studies also suggested the efficacy of N. sativa and TQ against viruses including cytomegalovirus (CMV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and influenza virus. The consideration of TQ as an antimicrobial therapeutic is still under initial phases. Further studies are needed to explore the implications of TQ in treatment of infectious diseases.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahmed A, Husain A, Mujeeb M et al (2013) A review on therapeutic potential of Nigella sativa: miracle herb. Asian Pac J Trop Biomed 3(5):337–352
Al-Bukhari MI (1976) Division (71) on medicine. In: Al-Bukhari S (ed) The collection of authentic sayings of Propet Mohammad (Peace be upon him), 2nd edn. Hilal Yayinlari, Ankara
Al-Qurashi AR, Akhtar N, Al-Jabre S et al (2007) Antifungal activity of thymoquinone and amphotericin B against Aspergillus niger. Basic Appl Sci 8(1):143–148
Barakat EM, El Wakeel LM, Hagang RS (2013) Effects of Nigella sativa on outcome of hepatitis C in Egypt. World J Gastroenterol 19:2529–2536
Bassolé IH, Juliani HR (2012) Essential oils in combination and their antimicrobial properties. Molecules 17(4):3989–4006
Burt S (2004) Essential oils: their antibacterial properties and potential applications in foods--a review. Int J Food Microbiol 94(3):223–253
Chaieb K, Kouidhi B, Jrah H et al (2011) Antibacterial activity of thymoquinone, an active principle of Nigella sativa and its potency to prevent bacterial biofilm formation. BMC Complement Altern Med 11:29
Dey D, Ray R, Hazra B (2014) Antitubercular and antibacterial activity of quinonoid natural products against multi-drug resistant clinical isolates. Phytother Res 28(7):1014–1021
Douglas LJ (2003) Candida biofilms and their role in infection. Trends Microbiol 11:30–36
Ghanbarzadeh Corehtash Z, Khorshidi A, Firoozeh F et al (2015) Biofilm formation and virulence factors among Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from burn patients. Jundishapur J Microbiol 8(10):e22345
Ghosheh OA, Houdi AA, Crooks PA et al (1999) High performance liquid chromatographic analysis of the pharmacologically active quinones and related compounds in the oil of the black seed (Nigella sativa L.) J Pharm Biomed Anal 19(5):757–762
Halawani E (2009) Antibacterial activity of thymoquinone and thymohydroquinone of Nigella sativa L. and their interaction with some antibiotics. Adv Biol Res 3(5–6):148–152
Hanafy MS, Hatem ME (1991) Studies on the antimicrobial activity of Nigella sativa seed (black cumin). J Ethnopharmacol 34(2–3):275–278
Kauffman CA (2006) Fungal infections. Proc Am Thorac Soc 3:35–40
Khan MA, Owais M (2006) Toxicity, stability and pharmacokinetics of amphotericin B in immunomodulator tuftsin-bearing liposomes in a murine model. J Antimicrob Chemother 58:125–132
Khan MA, Ashfaq MK, Zuberi HS et al (2003) The in vivo anti-fungal activity of the aqueous extract from Nigella sativa seed. Phytother Res 17:183–186
Khan MA, Aljarbou AN, Khan A et al (2015) Liposomal thymoquinone effectively combats fluconazole-resistant Candida albicans in a murine model. Int J Biol Macromol 76:203–208
Khosravi AR, Shokri H, Farahnejat Z et al (2013) Antimycotic efficacy of Iranian medicinal plants towards dermatophytes obtained from patients with dermatophytosis. Chin J Nat Med 11:43–48
Kokoska L, Havlik J, Valterova I et al (2008) Comparison of chemical composition and antibacterial activity of Nigella sativa seed essential oils obtained by different extraction methods. J Food Prot 71(12):2475–2480
Kontoyiannis DP, Bodey GP (2002) Invasive aspergillosis in 2002: an update. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 21:161–172
Loebinger MR, Wilson R (2012) Pneumonia. Medicine 40:329–334
Mahmud HA, Seo H, Kim S et al (2017) Thymoquinone (TQ) inhibits the replication of intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis in macrophages and modulates nitric oxide production. BMC Complement Altern Med 17(1):279
Martinez-Rossi NM, Peres NTA, Rossi A (2008) Antifungal resistance mechanisms in dermatophytes. Mycopathologia 166:369–383
Masia Canuto M, Gutirrez Rodero F (2002) Antifungal drug resistance to azoles and polyenes. Lancet Infect Dis 2:550–563
Nascimento GGF, Locatelli J, Freitas PC et al (2000) Antibacterial activity of plant extracts and phytochemicals on antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Braz J Microbiol 31:247–256
Osman KM, Abd El-Razik KA, Marie HS et al (2015) Relevance of biofilm formation and virulence of different species of coagulase-negative staphylococci to public health. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 34(10):2009–2016
Paster BJ, Boches SK, Galvin JL et al (2001) Bacterial diversity in human subgingival plaque. J Bacteriol 183:3770–3783
Piddock LJ (2006) Clinically relevant chromosomally encoded multidrug resistance efflux pumps in bacteria. Clin Microbiol Rev 19:382–402
Rajshaker S, Kuldeep B (2011) Pharmacognosy and pharmacology of Nigella sativa – a review. Int Res J Pharm 2(11):36–39
Randhawa MA, Dey D, Ray R et al (2015) Antibacterial and antitubercular activity of selected plant products against multi-drug resistant clinical isolates. Phytother Res 1021:1014–1021
Rapp RP (2004) Changing strategies for the management of invasive fungal infections. Pharmacotherapy 24:4S–28S
Salem ML, Hossain MS (2000) Protective effect of black seed oil from Nigella sativa against murine cytomegalovirus infection. Int J Immunopharmacol 22:729–740
Shaaban HA, Sadek Z, Edris AE et al (2015) Analysis and antibacterial activity of Nigella sativa essential oil formulated in microemulsion system. J Oleo Sci 64(2):223–232
Shokri H (2016) A review on the inhibitory potential of Nigella sativa against pathogenic and toxigenic fungi. Avicenna J Phytomed 6(1):21–33
Sidat MM, Correia D, Buene TP (2006) Tinea capitis among rural school children of the district of Magude, in Maputo province, Mozambique. Mycoses 49:480–483
Singh S, Das SS, Singh G et al (2014) Composition, in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of essential oil and oleoresins obtained from black cumin seeds (Nigella sativa L.) Biomed Res Int 2014:918209
Taha M, Abdel Azeiz AZ, Saudi W (2010) Antifungal effect of thymol, thymoquinone and thymohydroquinone against yeasts, dermatophytes and non-dermatophyte molds isolated from skin and nails fungal infections. Egypt J Biochem Mol Biol 28:109–126
Ugur AR, Dagi HT, Ozturk B et al (2016) Assessment of in vitro antibacterial activity and cytotoxicity effect of Nigella sativa oil. Pharmacogn Mag 12(Suppl 4):S471–S474
Umar S, Shah MA, Munir MT et al (2016) Synergistic effects of thymoquinone and curcumin on immune response and anti-viral activity against avian influenza virus (H9N2) in turkeys. Poult Sci 95(7):1513–1520
Van der Poll T, Opal SM (2009) Pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of pneumococcal pneumonia. Lancet 374:1543–1556
Van Der Werf MJ, Van Der Werf MJ, Langendam MW et al (2012) Multidrug resistance after inappropriate tuberculosis treatment: a meta-analysis. Eur Respir J 39:1511–1519
Woo CC, Kumar AP, Sethi G et al (2012) Thymoquinone: potential cure for inflammatory disorders and cancer. Biochem Pharmacol 83(4):443–451
Worthen DR, Ghosheh OA, Crooks PA (1998) The in vitro anti-tumor activity of some crude and purified components of black seed, Nigella sativa L. Anticancer Res 18:1527–1532
Zihlif MA, Mahmoud S, Ghanim MT (2013) Thymoquinone efficiently inhibits the survival of EBV-infected B cells and alters EBV gene expression. Integr Cancer Ther 12(3):257–263
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Khan, M.A. (2018). Antimicrobial Action of Thymoquinone. In: Younus, H. (eds) Molecular and Therapeutic actions of Thymoquinone. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8800-1_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8800-1_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-10-8799-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-10-8800-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)