Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease that causes disorders in blood lipids.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the lipid lowering e?ects of hydroalcoholic extract of Nigella sativa and
swim training in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.
Methods: A total of 32 diabetic rats were selected and randomly divided into four equal-size groups: (1) Swim training, (2) Nigella
sativa, (3) swim training with Nigella sativa, and (4) control. Groups 2 and 3 received 100 mg/kg/day of Nigella sativa extract in the
peritoneum. Groups 1 and 3 also swam in a swimming tank (?ve days per week for four weeks). After this period, blood samples were
taken. For analysis of the ?ndings, Paired Sample t -test and two-way ANOVA were used (P 0.05).
Results: Swim training and Nigella sativa consumption had a signi?cant e?ect in reducing cholesterol (Cho), triglycerides (TG), very
low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) (P 0.05); high-density lipoprotein (HDL) increased signi?cantly
following swim training (P 0.05); Nigella sativa and swim training had signi?cant interactive e?ects in reducing Cho, TG, VLDL,
and LDL, and in increasing HDL (P 0.05).
Conclusions: It seems that four weeks of Nigella sativa consumption combined with swimming training has a more favourable
fat-reducing e?ect than Nigella sativa consumption or swim training alone.