November-December 2018 Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences 971 Review Article Nigella sativa L. (Ranunculaceae) is an annual fowering plant with green-to-blue-colored fowers and black seeds, native to southwest Asia, southern Europe and North Africa but it is cultivated and used in other parts of the world [1] . Crude oil derived from the seeds of N. sativa exhibited a variety of pharmacological effects such as antihistaminic [2,3] , anticholinergic [4] , diuretic and antihypertensive [5,6] , hypoglycemic [7] , antioxytocic [8] , antinociceptive [9] , respiratory stimulator [10] , antiasthma and antidyspnea [11] , antitussive [12] , bronchodilatory [13] , tracheal smooth muscle relaxant [14,15] , hematological [16] , hepatoprotective [17] , immunopotentiating [18] , anticancer [19] , antimicrobial, antiinfammatory [20,21] , antifungal [22] , antiulcer [23] and antioxidant [24] . N. sativa seed oil is also effective in treating headache, fatulence, blood homeostasis abnormalities, rheumatism and related infammatory diseases [25] . Chemical composition of N. sativa seed extracts analysed by supercritical CO 2 extraction included n-nonane, tricyclene, camphene, β-pinene, β-myrcene, 1,8-cineole, α-terpinene, limonene, linalool, terpinolene, borneol, pinocarvone, thymoquinone (TQ), thymol, carvacrol, cyclosativene, α-longicyclene, palmitic acid, octadecanoic acid, dihydrofarnesyl acetate, davanone and dihydrofarnesyl acetate [26] . Pharmacological properties of N. sativa could be attributed to the constituents like nigellicine, nigellidine, TQ, dithymoquinone, thymol, and carvacrol [27] (fg. 1). Alimohammadi et al. reported that the extract of N. sativa reduced blood glucose due to inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis and possible insulin tropic properties [28] . Treatment with N. sativa markedly decreased the fasting blood glucose (FBG) level in streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rats. Histopathological examination also indicated that the N. sativa partially ameliorated hepatic glycogen content and preserved the pancreatic islet cells [28] . In addition, extracts of N. sativa and its constituents Cardiovascular Effects of Nigella Sativa L. and its Constituents F. SHAKERI, M. KHAZEI 1,2 AND M. H. BOSKBADY 1,2 * Natural Products and Medicinal Plants Research Centre, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, 1 Neurogenic Infammation Research Centre, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, 2 Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Shakeri, et al.: Cardiovascular effects of Nigella sativa Various pharmacological effects of Nigella sativa L. have been reported that include, antioxidant, antibacterial, antihistaminic, antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, antifungal, antiinflammatory, anticancer, and immunomodulatory. It has also been reported to produce benefcial effects in cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive and respiratory disorders. The effects of Nigella sativa had been attributed to constituents such as nigellicine, nigellidine, thymoquinone, dithymoquinone, thymol and carvacrol. In this article the cardiovascular effects of Nigella sativa and its constituents were reviewed. Published data was gathered through search engines and the fndings were classifed into animal and human studies. The effects of Nigella sativa and its constituents on cardiotoxicity, blood pressure, vascular smooth muscle, endothelial dysfunction, heart rate, cardiac contractility, lipid profle, platelet aggregation and atherosclerosis were reviewed. This review indicated that Nigella sativa and thymoquinone exhibited benefcial cardiovascular effects on cardiotoxicity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerosis. These effects were probably due to the antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties of Nigella sativa. Nigella sativa and its constituents could be of therapeutic value in cardiovascular diseases. Key words: Thymoquinone, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia *Address for correspondence E-mail: mhboskabady@hotmail.com This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms Accepted 03 September 2018 Revised 08 August 2017 Received 08 December 2016 Indian J Pharm Sci 2018;80(6):971-983