Nigella sativa ameliorates folliculogenesis disorders due to exposure to cigarette smoke through gnrh, mda expression, estrogen expression, GDF-9 expression, apoptosis expression, and ovarian follicles

Cigarette smoke contains thousands of compounds that harm active and passive smokers' bodies. These compounds cause oxidative stress in the body. The part of the body that is often affected by exposure to cigarette smoke is female reproduction. Nigella sativa and its constituents have been shown to have antioxidants that can protect the ovaries from damage from cigarette smoke exposure. This study aims to assess the effect of Nigella sativa in ameliorating folliculogenesis due to free radicals from cigarette smoke. Forty-five female Rattus novergicus weighing 150-200 g were divided into five groups. Group 1 Negative Control, group 2 Positive Control (cigarette smoke), group 3 (cigarette smoke+Nigella sativa 300 mg/kg BW/day), group 4 (cigarette smoke+Nigella sativa 600 mg/kg BW/day), and group 5 (cigarette smoke+Nigella sativa 1200 mg/kg BW/day) for 28 days. On the 29^th day, the mice were sacrificed and blood was taken from the heart followed by the ovaries. This study showed that Nigella sativa extract increased GnRH levels between the control group and the treatment group (p=0.275), significantly reduced granulosa cell MDA expression (p=0.000), decreased oocyte MDA expression (p=0.000), decreased granulosa cell apoptosis expression (p=0.040), reduced oocyte apoptosis (p=0.005), and increased estrogen expression (p=0.000), increased GDF-9 expression (p=0.0004), and increased the number of follicle graafian (p=0.000). Nigella sativa extract is effective in ameliorating folliculogenesis through granulosa cell MDA, oocyte MDA, GDF-9, estrogen, granulosa cell apoptosis, oocyte apoptosis, and follicular growth due to exposure to cigarette smoke at a dose of 1200 mg/kg BW/day.