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©The Author(s) 2024. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
Hepatic and renal effects of oral stingless bee honey in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model
Suriati Mohd Nasir, Anis Farihan Ismail, Tuan Salwani Tuan Ismail, Wan Faiziah Wan Abdul Rahman, Wan Amir Nizam Wan Ahmad, Tengku Ahmad Damitri Al- Astani Tengku Din, Kuttulebbai Nainamohammed Salam Sirajudeen
Suriati Mohd Nasir, Anis Farihan Ismail, Tengku Ahmad Damitri Al- Astani Tengku Din, Department of Chemical Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Tuan Salwani Tuan Ismail, Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Chemical Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Wan Faiziah Wan Abdul Rahman, Department of Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Wan Amir Nizam Wan Ahmad, Biomedicine Program, School of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia
Kuttulebbai Nainamohammed Salam Sirajudeen, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Kuliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia, Bandar Indera Mahkota, Kuantan 25200, Pahang, Malaysia
Author contributions: Mohd Nasir S and Ismail AF conducted animal study and laboratory analysis; Tuan Ismail TS and Sirajudeen KNS designed the study objective and methodology; Wan Ahmad WAN and Wan Abdul Rahman WF reviewed and validated the histological analysis; Tengku Din TADAA conducted statistical analysis and guided the animal and laboratory study; All the authors contributed to manuscript writing; Tuan Ismail TS edited and proofread the manuscripts.
Supported by Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia for Fundamental Research Grant Scheme FRGS/1/2019/SKK06/USM/03/6, No. 291983-329281.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee USM, Kubang Kerian [USM/IACUC/2019/(120) (1020)].
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors declare no conflict of interest in conducting this research.
Data sharing statement: No additional data is available.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Tuan Salwani Tuan Ismail, MBBS, Associate Professor, Doctor, Endocrinology Laboratory, Department of Chemical Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu 16150, Kelantan, Malaysia. tusti@usm.my
Received: December 26, 2023
Peer-review started: December 26, 2023
First decision: January 11, 2024
Revised: January 24, 2024
Accepted: March 1, 2024
Article in press: March 1, 2024
Published online: March 20, 2024
BACKGROUND
Diabetes is known damage the liver and kidney, leading to hepatic dysfunction and kidney failure. Honey is believed to help in lowering the blood glucose levels of diabetic patients and reducing diabetic complications. However, the effect of stingless bee honey (SBH) administration in relieving liver and kidney damage in diabetes has not been well-studied.
AIM
To investigate the effect of SBH administration on the kidney and liver of streptozotocin-induced (STZ; 55 mg/kg) diabetic Sprague Dawley rats.
METHODS
The rats were grouped as follows (n = 6 per group): non-diabetic (ND), untreated diabetic (UNT), metformin-treated (MET), and SBH+metformin-treated (SBME) groups. After successful diabetic induction, ND and UNT rats were given normal saline, whereas the treatment groups received SBH (2.0 g/kg and/or metformin (250 mg/kg) for 12 d. Serum biochemical parameters and histological changes using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and periodic acid–Schiff (PAS) staining were evaluated.
RESULTS
On H&E and PAS staining, the ND group showed normal architecture and cellularity of Bowman’s capsule and tubules, whereas the UNT and MET groups had an increased glomerular cellularity and thickened basement membrane. The SBH-treated group showed a decrease in hydropic changes and mild cellularity of the glomerulus vs the ND group based on H&E staining, but the two were similar on PAS staining. Likewise, the SBME-treated group had an increase in cellularity of the glomerulus on H&E staining, but it was comparable to the SBH and ND groups on PAS staining. UNT diabetic rats had tubular hydropic tubules, which were smaller than other groups. Reduced fatty vacuole formation and dilated blood sinusoids in liver tissue were seen in the SBH group. Conversely, the UNT group had high glucose levels, which subsequently increased MDA levels, ultimately leading to liver damage. SBH treatment reduced this damage, as evidenced by having the lowest fasting glucose, serum alanine transaminase, aspartate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase levels compared to other groups, although the levels of liver enzymes were not statistically significant.
CONCLUSION
The cellularity of the Bowman’s capsule, as well as histological alteration of kidney tubules, glomerular membranes, and liver tissues in diabetic rats after oral SBH resembled those of ND rats. Therefore, SBH exhibited a protective hepatorenal effect in a diabetic rat model.
Core Tip: Honey products are widely recognized for their abundant vitamin content and bioactive components, which enhance their potential therapeutic benefits in the management of diabetes. This study demonstrated the hepatic and renal protective properties of stingless bee honey, which improved the architecture of the kidney and liver in diabetic rats. Thus, stingless bee honey could be useful in the treatment or prevention of liver and kidney impairment in diabetes.
