Publication: Neuroprotective effects of tualang honey supplementation on the prefrontal cortex following chronic stress exposure in rat models
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Date
2022
Authors
Nawi, Faizah Md
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Abstract
Background: Stress has been a focus of attention among researchers as it is closely related to human psychological and physiological well-being. Chronic stress exposure causes sustained activation of the HPA axis resulting in an accumulation of cortisol hormones and free radicals, affecting many organs including the brain, leading to the development of many stress-related disorders. Tualang Honey is a Malaysian wild polyfloral honey with higher phenolic and flavonoid contents and has stronger antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities compared to other local honey. Tualang Honey has been shown to protect the brain against stress-induced oxidative damage dominantly in neurons. However, the studies that focus on the supporting glial cells are still scarce. Objective: The objective of this study is to investigate the neuroprotective effects of Tualang Honey supplementations on astrocytes and microglial cells in the medial prefrontal cortex of rat models following exposure to chronic stress. Methodology: Twenty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups: (i) control, (ii) stress-exposed, (iii) Tualang Honey treated group (1.0 g/kg body weight twice daily), and (iv) stress-exposed treated with Tualang Honey (1.0 g/kg body weight twice daily). The stress-exposed group and stress-exposed treated with the Tualang Honey group underwent two types of physical stress tests consisting of 5 hours of restraint stress test (RST) and 15 minutes of forced swimming test (FST) daily for 21 days. Euthanasia was performed on day 22. The brain was collected, processed, and stained using the immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique. The number of glial cells (astrocytes and microglial cells), the number of primary processes of glial cells, and the maximum branch length of glial cells were counted and measured using Fiji J image and IC Measure software. Data were analysed, using SPSS software version 26. Results: Present study found that the number of GFAP positive astrocytes and their maximum branch length processes were reduced in the stress group compared to the control group, while the number of Iba-1 positive microglial cells and their maximum branch length processes increased in the stress group compared to the control group. Besides, the number of GFAP positive astrocytes in the stress + Tualang Honey treated group increased compared to the stress group whereas the number of Iba-1 positive microglial significantly reduced compared to stress group. Also, the number of primary processes in both glial cells showed no significant differences in all study groups. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that Tualang Honey supplementations has influenced the number of astrocytes and microglial cells in the medial prefrontal cortex possibly via its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, Tualang Honey supplementation had no significant effect on the number of primary processes and the maximum branch length in both astrocytes and microglial cells processes after chronic stress exposure
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