The Potential Neuroinflammatory Attenuation Effects of Thymoquinone against 3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine-Induced Microglial Activation in BV2 Mouse Cell Line
bioRxiv Preprint Server June 16, 2025 Nor Suliana Mustafa, Nasir Mohamad, Nor Hidayah Abu Bakar et al. preprint
MDMA activates microglia in the brain, causing morphological changes and inflammatory responses that can lead to neurotoxicity. Thymoquinone (TQ), a compound with known anti-inflammatory properties, was tested on BV2 microglial cells to see if it could counteract MDMA's effects. Transcriptome analysis showed that MDMA significantly increased cytokines, chemokines, and inflammation-related genes. Pre-treatment with TQ reduced morphological changes in microglia and lowered the expression of several pro-inflammatory genes, including Cxcl2, Ptgs2, C3ar1, Nfkbia, Il1a, Cxcl10, and Serpinf2. The findings suggest that TQ has neuroprotective effects against MDMA-induced microglial activation by stabilizing microglial activity.