Investigation of neuroprotective and cognition enhancing potential of Tualang Honey in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion-induced neurodegeneration in rats

Abstract

Since ancient times, honey has been used as food as well as for therapeutic purposes. Honey possesses different physiological effects such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antimicrobial effects. In particular, honey has shown potential therapeutic properties in traditional medicine. This study investigated the evidence of the neuroprotective potential of Malaysian Tualang honey in chronic cerebral hypoperfusion induced by permanent bilateral common carotid arteries ligation (2 vessels occlusion- 2VO) in the rat and also studied the cognition enhancing potential of Tualang honey in honey treated rats as compared with controls. Previous studies showed that rats subjected to 2VO experienced cognitive deficits. oxidative stress and neuronal injury in the hippocampus of the brain. We studied the effect of Tualang honey on learning and memory using the Morris water maze (MWM) followed by assessment of neuronal damage in the CA I region of the dorsal hippocampus in rats. Rats were randomly divided into four groups (n=10); Sham control, untreated 2V0 (2VO), honey treated 2V0 (2VO+H) and honey treated group (H). Each group was again divided into two subgroups (n=5): one for long term memory assessment and another for short term memory and relearning tasks. After 10 weeks of treatment, all rat groups were tested for cognitive assessment by MWM then sacrificed for histological study. 2VO+H rats had better spatial learning and memory performance than untreated 2V0 rats in MWM tasks (p<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between Sham rats and H group rats (p>0.05). Consistent with MWM data, histological study also revealed the reduced loss of neurons in 2VO+H rats as compared with 2V0 rats (p<0.001). This study shows that Malaysian Tualang honey might have therapeutic potential for the treatment of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion related neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer`s disease (AD).