Tualang honey supplement improves memory performance and hippocampal morphology in stressed ovariectomized rats

Abstract

Recently, our research team has reported that Tualang honey was able to improve immediate memory in postmenopausal women comparable with that of estrogen progestin therapy. Therefore the aim of the present study was to examine the effects of Tualang honey supplement on hippocampal morphology and memory performance in ovariectomized (OVX) rats exposed to social instability stress. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into six groups: (i) sham-operated controls, (ii) stressed sham-operated controls, (iii) OVX rats, (iv) stressed OVX rats, (v) stressed OVX rats treated with 17β-estradiol (E2), and (vi) stressed OVX rats treated with Tualang honey. These rats were subjected to social instability stress procedure followed by novel object recognition (NOR) test. Right brain hemispheres were subjected to Nissl staining. The number and arrangement of pyramidal neurons in regions of CA1, CA2, CA3 and the dentate gyrus (DG) were recorded. Two-way ANOVA analyses showed significant interactions between stress and OVX in both STM and LTM test as well as number of Nissl-positive cells in all hippocampal regions. Both E2 and Tualang honey treatments improved both short-term and long-term memory and enhanced the neuronal proliferation of hippocampal CA2, CA3 and DG regions compared to that of untreated stressed OVX rats.

Neuroprotective effects of Tualang honey against oxidative stress and memory decline in young and aged rats exposed to noise stress

“…Therefore, it is suggested that the memory enhancing effects of Tualang honey could be due to the enhancement of neuronal proliferation in mPFC and hippocampus, a result paralleled to the previous study done in stressed ovariectomized rats [32]. Another study demonstrated that honey effectively inhibited apoptosis or neuronal cell death in the hippocampus of streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats [70].…”

“…Correspondingly, another study reported that consumptions of honey may improve spatial memory in middle-aged rats compared to those sucrose-fed or sugar-free diet [31]. In closely related studies, it was demonstrated that Tualang honey was able to improve memory performance in stressed ovariectomized rats [32] and postmenopausal women [33]. Therefore, it is hypothesized that Tualang honey could revert oxidative stress by removing the ROS that were produced during noise stress and thus prevent oxidative damage in memoryrelated brain areas, particularly in aged rats.…”

“…Tualang honey at 200 mg/kg body weight/day [32,34] was administered via oral gavage 14 days prior to stress procedure and the treatments were continued throughout the 14 days of stress procedure. The Tualang honey was freshly dissolved in 1 mL of distilled water prior administration.…”

Hippocampal amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid GluA1 (AMPA GluA1) receptor subunit involves in learning and memory improvement following treatment with Centella asiatica extract in adolescent rats

“…The tissues were then dehydrated in a gradient of alcohol, cleared with xylene (C0900‐2190239, HmbG Inc., Germany), and mounted in DPX mounting medium (360294H, BDH Chemicals, UK). Tissue sections were covered with coverslips (G0543, HmbG Inc. Germany) and observed and analyzed with a light microscope with an image analyzer (20 × objective lens power) (Olympus, BX‐14‐32PO2, Olympus Corporation, Japan) by three blinded investigators (Al‐Rahbi et al., 2014; Moorthi, Premkumar, Priyanka, Jayachandran, & Anusuyadevi, 2015). …”

Tualang Honey: Composition, Physiochemical Properties and Clinical Importance

“…Tualang honey showed its ability to improve learning and memory in clinical 23 as well as experimental studies 24 . these activities of tualang honey can be attributed to its ability to stimulate the cholinergic system and improve the morphology of the brain.…”