Diabetes mellitus is one of the most prevalent metabolic disorders that affect people of all genders, ages, and races. Medicinal herbs have gained wide attention from researchers and have been considered to be a beneficial adjuvant agent to oral antidiabetic drugs because of their integrated effects. Concerning the various beneficial effects of Nigella sativa, this systematic review aims to provide comprehensive information on the effects of Nigella sativa on glucose and insulin profile status in humans. A computerized database search performed through Scopus and Medline via Ebscohost with the following set of keywords: Nigella Sativa OR black seed oil OR thymoquinone OR black cumin AND diabetes mellitus OR hyperglycemia OR blood glucose OR hemoglobin A1C had returned 875 relevant articles. A total of seven articles were retrieved for further assessment and underwent data extraction to be included in this review. Nigella sativa was shown to significantly improve laboratory parameters of hyperglycemia and diabetes control after treatment with a significant fall in fasting blood glucose, blood glucose level 2 h postprandial, glycated hemoglobin, and insulin resistance, and a rise in serum insulin. In conclusion, these findings suggested that Nigella sativa could be used as an adjuvant for oral antidiabetic drugs in diabetes control.
Keywords: Nigella sativa; Type-2 diabetes mellitus; antidiabetic; hypoglycemic effect; thymoquinone.