***TASK*** the task is to summarize an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***INPUT*** the input is a biomedical literature 
    ***OUTPUT*** the output is the summary of an input biomedical literature in six sentences 
    ***DOCUMENTATION*** 
    ***EXAMPLES*** 
    Input: AIM : The seeds of the Nigella sativa plant have been used to promote health and fight disease for centuries , especially in the Middle East and in Southeast Asia . This plant has been a focus of much research . This clinical study was undertaken to know the adjuvant effect of N. sativa oil on various clinical and biochemical parameters of the insulin resistance syndrome . MATERIAL S AND METHODS : This prospect i ve study was conducted at a tertiary health care center in North India . After confirmation of diagnosis , 60 patients who fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled in this study . Written informed consent was taken from all the patients enrolled . Approval from the institutional ethical committee was also obtained . The patients were divided into two groups of 30 each . In group I ( the st and ard group ) , patients were advised tablet atorvastatin 10 mg once a day and tablet metformin 500 mg twice a day for a period of 6 weeks . In group II ( the N. sativa group ) , the patients were advised tablet atorvastatin 10 mg once a day , tablet metformin 500 mg twice a day , and N. sativa oil 2.5 ml twice daily for a period of 6 weeks . Fasting and postpr and ial blood glucose , fasting lipid profile , and waist circumference were recorded before therapy and after completion of therapy . RESULT : The treatment group showed significant ( P < 0.05 ) improvement with reference to total cholesterol , low density lipoprotein cholesterol ( LDL-C ) , and fasting blood glucose ( P < 0.05 ) . CONCLUSION : N. sativa oil was found to be effective as an add-on therapy in patients of insulin resistance syndrome . N. sativa oil has a significant activity in diabetic and dyslipidemic patients Hypertension ( HT ) is a lifestyle‐related disease and dietary modifications are effective for its management and prevention . We conducted a r and omized , double‐blind , placebo‐controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of treatment with an oral Nigella sativa ( NS ) seed extract supplement in patients with mild HT . Subjects were r and omized into three groups : a placebo and two test groups that received 100 and 200 mg of NS extract twice a day . After 8 weeks , systolic blood pressure ( SBP ) values in both case groups were found to be significantly reduced when compared with the baseline values for each group . In addition , the decrease in SBP in the two case groups was statistically significant relative to the placebo group ( P < 0.05–0.01 ) . Meanwhile , diastolic blood pressure ( DBP ) values in the case groups were found to be significantly reduced from the baseline and a significant reduction was also observed in these groups ( P < 0.01 ) when compared with the placebo group . In addition , extract administration reduced both SBP and DBP in a dose‐dependent manner . Meanwhile , NS extract caused a significant decline in the level of total and low‐density‐lipoprotein (LDL)‐cholesterol relative to baseline data . No complications caused by NS were observed . The results suggest that the daily use of NS seed extract for 2 months may have a blood pressure‐lowering effect in patients with mild HT Background The risk of cardiovascular diseases ( CVD ) is increased tremendously among menopausal women , and there is an increasing dem and for alternative therapies for managing factors like dyslipidemia that contribute to CVD development . Methods In this study , Nigella sativa was evaluated for its hypolipidemic effects among menopausal women . In a r and omised trial , hyperlipidemic menopausal women were assigned to  treatment ( n = 19 ) or placebo groups ( n = 18 ) , and given N. sativa or placebo for two months after their informed consents were sought . At baseline , blood sample s were taken and at one month intervals thereafter until one month after the end of the study . Results The results showed that N. sativa significantly improved lipid profiles of menopausal women  ( decreased total cholesterol , low density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglyceride , and increased high density lipoprotein cholesterol ) more than the placebo treatment over 2 months of intervention . One month after cessation of treatment , the lipid profiles in the N. sativa-treated group tended to change towards the pretreatment levels . Conclusions N. sativa is thought to have multiple mechanisms of action and is cost-effective . Therefore , it could be used by menopausal women to remedy hypercholesterolemia , with likely more benefits than with single pharmacological agents that may cause side effects . The use of N. sativa as an alternative therapy for hypercholesterolemia could have profound impact on the management of CVD among menopausal women especially in countries where it is readily available BACKGROUND Natural products are proved to play a good role as an alternative to synthetic chemicals in many clinical conditions . Hypercholesterolemia is the most important risk factor for atherosclerosis . Previous studies showed that Nigella sativa L. has both antioxidant and lipid lowering potentials . THE AIM OF THIS STUDY To evaluate the efficacy of the seeds of Nigella sativa on the treatment of hyperlipidemia . METHODS In this r and omized , placebo controlled clinical trial which was conducted in Isfahan city ( Iran ) , 88 subjects aged > or = 18 years with a total cholesterol concentration > 200 mg/dl were included . According to the patients " profiles number , they were r and omized to receive either N. sativa capsules or the matching placebo . Each N sativa capsule contained 500 + /- 10 mg N. sativa crushed seeds , and patients had to take 2 g N. sativa per day for 4 weeks . Fasting baseline laboratory values ( fasting blood sugar , total cholesterol , low density lipoprotein , high density lipoprotein and triglyceride ) were obtained for all parameters on each subject prior to the start of the study and at the end of 4 weeks . RESULTS In our study a significant decrease was observed in the concentration of total cholesterol ( 4.78 % ) , Low density lipoprotein ( 7.6 % ) and Triglyceride ( 16.65 % ) , and this decrease was more significant for TG concentration .  N. sativa had not any beneficial effects on Fasting blood sugar and High density lipoprotein . CONCLUSION According to the results of our present study it seems that N. sativa may have some beneficial therapeutic effects in the treatment of hyperlipidemia . However , further investigations with a larger sample size are necessary OBJECTIVES Evaluation of therapeutic potentials of α-lipoic acid ( α-LA ) , L-carnitine , Nigella sativa ( N. sativa ) or combination of them in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of DM type I. METHODS Rat model of diabetes was induced by single i.p injection of Streptozocin ( STZ ) 65 mg/kg . The rats were r and omly assigned to 6 groups ( G ) : healthy reference ( HR ) , diabetic ( DM ) , DM treated with α-lipoic acid , DM treated with L-carnitine , DM treated with N. sativa , and DM treated with combination of the 3 compounds . After 30 days from onset of diabetes , serum and tissue homogenate were obtained for evaluation of glucose metabolism as fasting blood glucose , insulin , insulin sensitivity , HOMA , C-peptide , and pyruvate dehydrogenase ( PDH ) activity . For lipid metabolism evaluation , total cholesterol and triacylglycerol ( TG ) were determined . Markers of antioxidants and oxidative status as total antioxidant capacity ( TAC ) , glutathione-S-transeferase ( GST ) , 8-hydroxy-2-deoxyguanosine ( 8-OH-dG ) were measured . RESULTS Either α-LA or N. sativa significantly reduced the elevated blood glucose level . The combination of 3 compounds significantly increased the level of insulin and C-peptide . Also , increased the antioxidant activity measured by TAC and decreased the oxidative damage of DNA as measured by 8-OH-dG. HOMA- β increased in G3 and G6 compared to G2 . However , the decrease in TG , and total cholesterol levels were non-significant in all groups . CONCLUSION Combination of α-LA , L-carnitine and N. sativa will contribute significantly in improvement of the carbohydrate metabolism and to less extent lipid metabolism in diabetic rats , thus increasing the rate of success in management of DM . Also , this combination will have implication s in clinical studies and clinical applications OBJECTIVE : To test the feasibility of creating a valid and reliable checklist with the following features : appropriate for assessing both r and omised and non-r and omised studies ; provision of both an overall score for study quality and a profile of scores not only for the quality of reporting , internal validity ( bias and confounding ) and power , but also for external validity . DESIGN : A pilot version was first developed , based on epidemiological principles , review s , and existing checklists for r and omised studies . Face and content validity were assessed by three experienced review ers and reliability was determined using two raters assessing 10 r and omised and 10 non-r and omised studies . Using different raters , the checklist was revised and tested for internal consistency ( Kuder-Richardson 20 ) , test-retest and inter-rater reliability ( Spearman correlation coefficient and sign rank test ; kappa statistics ) , criterion validity , and respondent burden . MAIN RESULTS : The performance of the checklist improved considerably after revision of a pilot version . The Quality Index had high internal consistency ( KR-20 : 0.89 ) as did the subscales apart from external validity ( KR-20 : 0.54 ) . Test-retest ( r 0.88 ) and inter-rater ( r 0.75 ) reliability of the Quality Index were good . Reliability of the subscales varied from good ( bias ) to poor ( external validity ) . The Quality Index correlated highly with an existing , established instrument for assessing r and omised studies ( r 0.90 ) . There was little difference between its performance with non-r and omised and with r and omised studies . Raters took about 20 minutes to assess each paper ( range 10 to 45 minutes ) . CONCLUSIONS : This study has shown that it is feasible to develop a checklist that can be used to assess the method ological quality not only of r and omised controlled trials but also non-r and omised studies . It has also shown that it is possible to produce a checklist that provides a profile of the paper , alerting review ers to its particular method ological strengths and weaknesses . Further work is required to improve the checklist and the training of raters in the assessment of external validity This experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of N. sativa L. on histopathology of pancreatic beta-cells , and blood insulin and glucose concentrations in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats . Fifty male Wistar rats ( 200 - 250 g ) were divided into two experimental groups ( diabetics with no treatment and diabetics with N. sativa L. treatment ) , each containing twenty-five rats . Diabetes was induced in both groups by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin ( STZ ) ( 50 mg/kg ) . The experimental animals in both groups became diabetic within 24 hours after the administration of STZ . The rats in N. sativa L.-treated group were given the daily intraperitoneal injection of 0.20 ml/kg of N. sativa L. volatile oil for 30 days starting the day after STZ injection . Control rats received only the same amount of normal saline solution . The rats in both groups received the last injection 24 hours before the sacrification and 5 r and omly-selected rats in each group were sacrificed before , and the 1 , 10 , 20 and 30 days after the STZ injection to collect blood and pancreatic tissue sample s. The N. sativa L. treatment caused a decrease in the elevated serum glucose , an increase in the lowered serum insulin concentrations and partial regeneration/ proliferation of pancreatic beta-cells in STZ-induced diabetic rats with the elapse of the experiment . It is concluded that the hypoglycaemic action of N. sativa L. could be partly due to amelioration in the beta-cells of pancreatic islets causing an increase in insulin secretion . More studies are needed to demonstrate the exact mechanism of action of N. sativa L. on ameliorated blood glucose concentration in STZ-induced diabetes Nigella sativa L. seeds ( N. sativa ) have been used as a traditional remedy for a wide range of diseases including hypertension . The present study was performed to explore the effects of N. sativa oil on blood pressure ( BP ) in healthy volunteers . In a double-blind , r and omized study , 70 healthy volunteers aged 34 to 63 years with systolic BP from 110 to 140 mmHg and diastolic BP from 60 to 90 mmHg were r and omly allocated to receive 2.5 mL N. sativa oil or placebo two times a day for 8 weeks . The systolic and diastolic BPs , body mass index and blood levels of aspartate transaminase , alanine transaminase , alkaline phosphatase , creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were determined at baseline and endpoint . Results showed that in N. sativa oil treated group the systolic and diastolic BPs decreased significantly compared with baseline and placebo group at the endpoint . Other parameters did not significantly change in both groups at the endpoint . No adverse effects were reported . In conclusion , oral daily administration of 
    Output:
    
In addition , N. sativa reduced levels of glycosylated hemoglobin ( HbA1c ) .
Our systematic review revealed that N. sativa supplementation might be effective in glycemic control in humans