Background

Nigella sativa is an annual flowering plant whose seed (known as black cumin) is used in various traditional medicine systems. Black cumin has anti-inflammatory properties and can inhibit histamine-receptor signaling; for those reasons, it has been tested for asthma in animals and humans.

The study

This meta-analysis of 4 randomized controlled trials evaluated the efficacy of black cumin for asthma control.

The results

Black cumin was associated with a better score on the Asthma Control Test (ACT) and a better FEV1 (the maximum amount of air that can be forcefully expelled in one second). It didn’t affect other markers of lung function or pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Note

This meta-analysis suggests that black cumin can benefit asthma patients, but its conclusions are weakened by both the low number of trials analyzed and the limited scale of the individual trials. Larger, more robust trials are needed to fully evaluate the efficacy of Nigella sativa as a treatment for asthma.

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This Study Summary was published on August 6, 2020.