Manuka Honey Exerts Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities That Promote Healing of Acetic Acid-Induced Gastric Ulcer in Rats

Abstract

Gastric ulcers are a major problem worldwide with no effective treatment. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of manuka honey in the treatment of acetic acid-induced chronic gastric ulcers in rats. Different groups of rats were treated with three different concentrations of honey. Stomachs were checked macroscopically for ulcerative lesions in the glandular mucosa and microscopically for histopathological alterations. Treatment with manuka honey significantly reduced the ulcer index and maintained the glycoprotein content. It also reduced the mucosal myeloperoxidase activity, lipid peroxidation (MDA), and the inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) as compared to untreated control group. In addition, honey-treated groups showed significant increase in enzymatic (GPx and SOD) and nonenzymatic (GSH) antioxidants besides levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10. Flow cytometry studies showed that treatment of animals with manuka honey has normalized cell cycle distribution and significantly lowered apoptosis in gastric mucosa. In conclusion, the results indicated that manuka honey is effective in the treatment of chronic ulcer and preservation of mucosal glycoproteins. Its effects are due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that resulted in a significant reduction of the gastric mucosal MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 and caused an elevation in IL-10 levels.

Comparative study of the therapeutic effect of pomegranate alone or in combination with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on experimentally induced gastric ulcer in adult male rats: A histological and immunohistochemical study

“…Group II of our study revealed significant decrease of PAS positive reaction in fundic mucosal cells, consistent with some researches [3,7,33,34] , whereas ethanol-induced ulcer was associated with decrease of PAS positive reaction in fundic mucosal cells as result of ethanol damaging effect on the mucus cells or excessive oxidative stress. Moreover, there was a significant decrease of expression VEGF immunostaining in gastric mucosa, similar to some previous histopathological studies [35,36] .…”

“…The mechanism of action of ethanol induced gastric ulcer mediated through multifactorial process as various cytokines release, lipid peroxidation, generation of reactive oxygen species, oxidative damage, modification in permeability and depolarization of the mitochondrial membrane before cell death [7,26,37] . Previous related studies [1] revealed that the strong antioxidant action of the pomegranate peel extract had adequate potential as an antiulcer mediator.…”

“…However, all the current therapies are not always effective, have adverse effects, and are expensive with high recurrence rate of ulcer. For this reason, there is a need to search for alternative drug sources or natural products which are more effective and safe against gastric ulcers [3,7] . Nowadays, dietary antioxidants of natural products are considered as promising alternative therapy and may have several health benefits [1] .…”

Characteristics of three typical Chinese highland barley varieties: Phenolic compounds and antioxidant activities

“…Epidemiological evidences have supported the hypothesis that whole grains consumption plays an important role in the prevention of several chronic diseases concerned with oxidative stress, such as cardiovascular disease (He, van Dam, Rimm, Hu, & Qi, ), type II diabetes (Ziegler, ), obesity (Lutsey et al, ; Montonen et al, ), and some cancers (Aarestrup et al, ). They also scavenge free radicals that increase oxidative stress and damage large bio‐molecules, such as proteins, lipids, and DNA as well (Almasaudi et al, ; Alvarez‐Suarez et al, ; Liao et al, ). Phenolic compounds in crops are either in free or in bound forms.…”

American Foulbrood and the Risk in the Use of Antibiotics as a Treatment

“…Phenolic compounds and flavonoids have antioxidant capacities, acting through routes complementary to enzymatic antioxidants identified in honeys, such as glucose oxidase and catalase [30][31][32]. Antibiotic activity, also as related to phenolic acids and flavonoids, has been reported in some honeys globally [33][34][35][36].…”