Azril Shahreez bin Abdul Ghani2024-10-092024-10-092016https://studentrepo.iium.edu.my/handle/123456789/10799Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) is a common chronic liver disease that may progress to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently, there is limited therapy available. Tualang honey which is known for its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects may improve NASH as inflammatory process and oxidative damage have been implicated in the pathogenesis. However studies utilizing animal models induced with cholesterol diet ranging from 0.5 – 2% are hampered by inconsistent yield of NASH features as assessed histologically. The aims of this study are to establish NASH animal model utilizing 12% cholesterol diet and to investigate the effects of Tualang honey on NASH. This study is divided into 2 phases: the induction phase with cholesterol diet and the treatment phase with Tualang honey. In the induction phase, 42 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into standard diet (std) group (n=12) and NASH group (n=30). The 12 rats in the std group were fed with commercial rat pellet while the 30 rats in the NASH group were fed with 1% cholesterol (1% CD) diet for 14 weeks. The experiment was extended for an additional 6 weeks with increment of cholesterol in the diet from 1% to 12 % in the NASH group since the liver histology did not show features of NASH in the 1% CD. At the end of the additional 6 weeks period, liver histology showed NASH changes in the 12% CD. Subsequently in the treatment phase, the rats in the NASH group were randomly divided and continued on the cholesterol diet in addition to administration of 0.2, 1.2, 2.4 and 3.0 g of Tualang honey per kg body weight daily respectively as treatment for 4 weeks. Results of the histological sections of the livers of the 12% CD rats in the induction phase exhibited features consistent with NASH which include macrovesicular steatosis, occasional hepatocyte ballooning degeneration with mild to moderate lobular and portal inflammation. The 12% CD group revealed significantly increased serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), serum insulin levels, homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), serum total cholesterol (TC), serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) and reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c) in rats. Tualang honey supplementation in the treatment groups showed significant improvement in the histological grading and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) activity scores. Tualang honey also significantly reduced serum ALT, serum insulin, HOMA-IR, serum LDL-c and increased HDL-c in NASH rats in these groups. In conclusion, this study has successfully induced mild – moderate NASH rat model utilizing 12% cholesterol diet and also demonstrated that Tualang honey administration improved histological grading, NAFLD activity score, insulin resistance, liver function and and dyslipidemia in NASH animal model.enCopyright International Islamic University MalaysiaFatty liverFatty liver -- TreatmentLiver -- DiseasesHoney --Therapeutic useMaster Thesishttps://lib.iium.edu.my/mom/services/mom/document/getFile/Egyozal2QwuSvXHy0BadWJp5eGPV9JQp20160928113211875