Intestinal, Airway, and Cardiovascular Relaxant Activities of Thymoquinone

Figure 7

Inhibitory effect of thymoquinone (TQ) on acetylcholine-(ACh, 10 𝜇M) induced elevation of average fluorescence intensity (AFI), representing intracellular Ca⁺⁺ ion concentrations ([Ca⁺⁺]_i), in airway smooth muscle cells (ASMC) studied via fluo-4-loaded mouse lung slices. (a) shows effect of ACh, alone, while (b) shows effect of ACh in presence of TQ (100 𝜇M), on AFI shown as a line graph of the change in AFI and as a line scan of a single ASMC. Subfigure (c) shows pooled data for the effect of ACh on AFI in the absence (control) and presence of TQ (10 𝜇M; 𝑛=6), TQ (100 𝜇M; 𝑛=5), verapamil (Verap; 1 𝜇M; 𝑛=4), and verapamil (Verap; 10 𝜇M; 𝑛=4). Values shown are mean ± SEM; ^∗∗∗𝑃<0.001, one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s Multiple Comparison test.

(a)

(b)

(c)