A study to determine the effect of nano-selenium and thymoquinone on the Nrf2 gene expression in Alzheimer’s disease
Creators: name: Ellakwa, Doha El-Sayed
name: Rashed, Laila Ahmed
name: Ali, Ola Sayed
name: El-Sabbagh, Noha Amr
Publisher: name: Taylor & Francis
Year: 2025
Subjects: Biochemistry
Cell Biology
Neuroscience
Pharmacology
Biotechnology
Chemical Sciences not elsewhere classified
Cancer
Science Policy
Mental Health

description: Alzheimer’s disease is a developing public health concern in aging communities that affects a sizable section of the global population. The risk of Alzheimer’s disease increases with age; it affects one-third of males and two-thirds of women<sup>.</sup> This research attempts to assess the effect of nano-selenium and thymoquinone on Nrf2 gene expression levels in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There were five identical groups of 50 albino male rats: a control group that was healthy; an AD positive control group; an AD group that received nano-selenium (5 mg/kg); an AD group that received thymoquinone (2 mg/kg); and an AD group that received both. The duration of treatment was 4 weeks. The levels of Nrf2 in brain tissues were evaluated using real-time PCR. Nrf2 mean expression levels in the nano-selenium-treated rats, the thymoquinone-treated rats, and the rats that were given both treatments all increased significantly compared to AD rats with no treatment. This study showed that nano-selenium and thymoquinone elevated Nrf2 gene expression levels in AD. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a common dementia causing cognitive decline. Nrf2 signaling may be a potential therapeutic target, while thymoquinone and nano-selenium could be effective neuroprotective agents for AD management, potentially reducing neuronal damage. In this study, the effects of thymoquinone and nano-selenium treatments on AD rat models were evaluated through behavior study by performing the Morris Water Maze test, estimation of different markers (Nrf2, Aβ-42, GSH, MDA, and TNF-α), and histopathological examination of brain tissue. Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia causing a steady deterioration in cognitive function. Thymoquinone and nano-selenium showed improvement in histopathology and behavior studies in the AD rats’ model.Alzheimer disease has no known treatment; however, medicines and other therapies can help with symptom management, improve quality of life, and slow down clinical decline.TQ and SeNPs demonstrated improvement in the levels of different biomarkers (Nrf2, Aβ-42, TNF-α, GSH &amp; MDA) reversing them toward the normal levels.The combination of TQ and SeNPs showed more improvement than each of them as a single treatment. Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of dementia causing a steady deterioration in cognitive function. Thymoquinone and nano-selenium showed improvement in histopathology and behavior studies in the AD rats’ model. Alzheimer disease has no known treatment; however, medicines and other therapies can help with symptom management, improve quality of life, and slow down clinical decline. TQ and SeNPs demonstrated improvement in the levels of different biomarkers (Nrf2, Aβ-42, TNF-α, GSH &amp; MDA) reversing them toward the normal levels. The combination of TQ and SeNPs showed more improvement than each of them as a single treatment.