Studies on the antioxidant properties of Tualang honey of Malaysia

Honey has been used since ancient times for its nutritional as well as curative properties. Tualang honey is collected from wild honey bees’ hives on Tualang trees found in the Malaysian rain forest. It has been used traditionally for the treatment of various diseases, where its therapeutic value has partly been related to its antioxidant properties. This study therefore assessed the colour intensity, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and antiradical activity of gamma irradiated Tualang Honey. The colour intensity at ABS45O was 489.5 ± 1.7 mAU, total phenolic content was 251.7±7.9 mg gallic acid /Kg honey, total antioxidant activity by FRAP assay was 322.1±9.7 (μM Fe(II)) and the antiradical activity by DPPH assay was 41.30 ± 0.78 (% inhibition). The data confirms that the antioxidant properties of gamma irradiated Tualang honey are similar to other types of honeys reported in the literature.Key words: Tualang honey, Malaysia, Total antioxidant activity, Gamma radiation, Phenolic content, DPPH assa

Propolis Ameliorates Tumor Nerosis Factor-α, Nitric Oxide levels, Caspase-3 and Nitric Oxide Synthase Activities in Kainic Acid Mediated Excitotoxicity in Rat Brain

Background: Increased nitric oxide (NO), neuronal inflammation and apoptosis have been proposed to be involved in excitotoxicity plays a partin many neurodegenerative diseases. To understand the neuro-protective effects of propolis, activities of Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) andcaspase-3 along with NO and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) levels were studied in cerebral cortex (CC), cerebellum (CB) and brain stem (BS)in rats supplemented with propolis prior to excitotoxic injury with kainic acid (KA).Materials and methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups (n=6 rats per group) as Control, KA, Propolis andKA+Propolis. The control group and KA group have received vehicle and saline. Propolis group and propolis + KA group were orallyadministered with propolis (150mg/kg body weight), five times every 12 hours. KA group and propolis +KA group were injected subcutaneouslywith kainic acid (15mg/kg body weight) and were sacrificed after 2 hrs. CC, CB and BS were separated, homogenized and used for estimation ofNOS, caspase-3, NO and TNF-α by commercial kits. Results were analyzed by one way ANOVA, reported as mean + SD (n=6 rats), and p<0.05was considered statistically significant.Results: The concentration of NO, TNF-α, NOS and caspase-3 activity were increased significantly (p<0.001) in all the three brain regions testedin KA group compared to the control. Propolis supplementation significantly (p<0.001) prevented the increase in NOS, NO, TNF-α and caspase-3due to KA.Conclusion: Results of this study clearly demonstrated that the propolis supplementation attenuated the NOS, caspase-3 activities, NO, and TNF-á concentration and in KA mediated excitotoxicity. Hence propolis can be a possible potential protective agent against excitotoxicity andneurodegenerative disorders.Keywords: Nitric oxide; TNF-α; Caspase-3; Excitotoxicity; Propolis; Rat Brai

Restoration Of Glutamine Synthetase Activity, Nitric Oxide Levels And Amelioration Of Oxidative Stress By Propolis In Kainic Acid Mediated Excitotoxicity

Background: Propolis has been proposed to be protective on neurodegenerative disorders. To understand the neuroprotective effects of honeybee propolis, glutamine synthetase (GS) activity, nitric oxide (NO), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and total antioxidant status (TAS) were studied in different brain regions- cerebral cortex (CC), cerebellum (CB) and brain stem (BS) of rats supplemented with propolis and subjected to kainic acid (KA) mediated excitotoxicity.Materials and Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into four groups; Control group and KA group received vehicle and saline. Propolis group and propolis + KA group were orally administered with propolis (150mg/kg body weight), five times every 12 hours. KA group and propolis + KA group were injected subcutaneously with kainic acid (15mg/kg body weight) and were sacrificed after 2 hrs and CC, CB and BS were separated homogenized and used for estimation of GS activity, NO, TBARS, and TAS concentrations by colorimetric methods. Results were analyzed by oneway ANOVA, reported as mean + SD from 6 animals, and p<0.05 considered statistically significant.Results: NO was increased (p< 0.001) and GS activity was decreased (p< 0.001) in KA treated group compared to control group as well as propolis + KA treated group. TBARS was decreased and TAS was increased (p< 0.001) in propolis + KA treated group compared KA treated group.Conclusion: This study clearly demonstrated the restoration of GS activity, NO levels and decreased oxidative stress by propolis in kainic acid mediated excitotoxicity. Hence the propolis can be a possible potential candidate (protective agent) against excitotoxicity and neurodegenerative disorders.Keywords: Nitric oxide, Glutamine Synthetase, Oxidative Stress, Excitotoxicity, Propolis, Rat Brain

Review: Ischemic heart disease and the potential role of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum linn.) in cardioprotection

Ischemic heart disease, often known as coronary heart disease (CHD), is a term for heart disorders caused by narrowing heart arteries (coronary arteries) that provide blood to the heart's muscles. The body is prone to heart attacks when there is less oxygen supply (hypoxia) to the heart resulting a major cell death in the heart tissues. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Over the last few decades, the potential therapeutic effects of herbs and other types of complementary medicines for managing risk factors for CVD have gotten a lot of attention. Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecumLinn.) is a very important spice in most Asian dishes. In Malaysia, fenugreek, locally known as ‘halba’, is used in the preparation of popular dishes; ‘nasi dagang’ for breakfast, and ‘putu halba’ as snacks for hi-tea and sometimes applied in drinks. Although, to date, the effect of fenugreek against diabetes and heart diseases is well investigated, most studies do not focus on its the effects at molecular levels. This review gives an insight on the ischemic heart disease and the nutritional values of fenugreek as functional food in protecting the heart

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of Tualang honey in alkali injury on the eyes of rabbits: Experimental animal study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alkali injury is one of the most devastating injuries to the eye. It results in permanent unilateral or bilateral visual impairment. Chemical eye injury is accompanied by an increase in the oxidative stress. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents play a major role in the treatment of chemical eye injuries. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the anti-inflammatory (clinical and histopathological) and antioxidant effects of Tualang honey versus conventional treatment in alkali injury on the eyes of rabbits.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A preliminary study was carried out prior to the actual study to establish the alkali chemical injury on rabbit's cornea and we found that alkali chemical injury with 2 N NaOH showed severe clinical inflammatory features. In actual study, alkali injury with 2 N NaOH was induced in the right eye of 10 New Zealand White rabbits' cornea. The rabbits were divided into two groups, Group A was given conventional treatment and Group B was treated with both topical and oral Tualang honey. Clinical inflammatory features of the right eye were recorded at 12 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours, 5^thday and 7^thday post induction of alkali burn on the cornea. The histopathological inflammatory features of the right corneas of all rabbits were also evaluated on day-7. The level of total antioxidant status and lipid peroxidation products in the aqueous humour, vitreous humour and serum at day-7 were estimated biochemically. Fisher's Exact, Chi-Square and Mann-Whitney test were used to analyse the data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was no statistically significant difference in clinical inflammatory features (p > 0.05) between honey treated and the conventional treated group at different times of examination. Histopathological examination of the cornea showed the number of polymorphonuclear leucocytes was below 50 for both groups (mild grade). There was also no significant difference in the level of total antioxidant status as well as lipid peroxidation products in aqueous humour (p = 0.117, p = 0.382 respectively), vitreous humour (p = 0.917, p = 0.248 respectively) and serum (p = 0.917, p = 0.332 respectively) between honey treated and the conventional treated group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Tualang honey has almost the equal effects when compared with the conventional treatment in treating alkali injury on rabbit's eye. Future research with more number of rabbits and control group is warranted to explore the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of Tualang honey.</p

Docosahexaenoic Acid and Tualang Honey Improve Brain Oxidative Status in Chronic Stress Rat Model

The main objective of this study was to investigate the protective effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and Tualang honey (TH) and their combination on several parameters of oxidative stress of the brain following exposure to chronic stress. Five groups of male Sprague Dawley rats ( 10 animal per group) were allocated in which Group 1 received normal saline and used as control; Group 2 was exposed to stress and received normal saline; Group 3 was exposed to stress and reviewed DHA (450 mg/kg body weight BD); Group 4 was exposed to stress and received TH (1 g/kg body weight BD), and&nbsp; Group 5 was exposed to stress and&nbsp; received combination of DHA and TH. Animals were exposed to chronic stress from 9 am to 2 pm daily for 4 weeks. The following oxidative parameters were measured: total antioxidant status (TAS) , glutathione, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and protein carbonyl. The results showed that DHA, TH and their combination significantly reduced (p&lt;0.05) stress-induced elevation of corticosterone and TBARS levels and concurrently caused a significantly increased (p&lt;0.05) in TAS level. With regard to glutathione and protein carbonyl, only TH and combination of DHA+TH significantly reduced (p&lt;0.05) the oxidised glutathione and protein carbonyl. In all parameters, there was no significant difference between Group 5 in comparison to Group 3 and Group 4 indicating combination of DHA and TH was not superior to consuming DHA and TH alone. In conclusion, TH and to lesser extent DHA may protect the brain against oxidative stress induced by exposure to chronic stress but consuming these substances together does not give synergistic effect. Keywords: Oxidative stress, Honey, Docosahexaenoic acid, Chronic stress, Brai

Studies on the Antioxidant Properties of Tualang Honey of Malaysia

Honey has been used since ancient times for its nutritional as well as curative properties. Tualang honey is collected from wild honey bees' hives on Tualang trees found in the Malaysian rain forest. It has been used traditionally for the treatment of various diseases, where its therapeutic value has partly been related to its antioxidant properties. This study therefore assessed the colour intensity, total phenolic content, antioxidant activity and antiradical activity of gamma irradiated Tualang Honey. The colour intensity at ABS45O was 489.5 ± 1.7 mAU, total phenolic content was 251.7±7.9 mg gallic acid /Kg honey, total antioxidant activity by FRAP assay was 322.1±9.7 (µM Fe(II)) and the antiradical activity by DPPH assay was 41.30 ± 0.78 (% inhibition). The data confirms that the antioxidant properties of gamma irradiated Tualang honey are similar to other types of honeys reported in the literature

Safety evaluation of aqueous extract of leaves of a plant phyllanthus amarus, in rat liver

Phyllanthus amarus (Euphorbiaceae) is used as a folk medicine for jaundice and other diseases in Malaysia and other countries. But, so far, no safety studies have been carried out on this plant with clear documentation, especially with those plants growing in Malaysia. So the aim of this study was to determine the toxic side effects of aqueous extract of leaves of P. amarus(grown in Malaysia) following oral administration in rats. Acute admininstration of P. amarusextract at a dose of 5 g/kg body weight did not produce any signs of toxicity or mortality. In the chronic study, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed between the control and P. amarusextract administered (male and female) rats (at the doses of 100, 400 and 800 mg/kg body weight for 6 weeks) in the total body weight gain as well as in the liver marker enzymes analyzed in serum. The non-toxic nature of P. amarusextract administration was confirmed by histological studies [light microscopy, proliferative cell nuclear antigen study and apoptotic study] i.e., no observable changes were found between control and P. amarusextract administered rats. Therefore, acute oral administration of P. amarusextract is non-toxic to the rat liver, even at a dose of 5 g /kg body weight and also the chronic toxicity studies of P. amarusextracts administration showed the absence of cumulative toxicity as reflected by the non-significant change in the parameters studied as well as from the results of the histological studies. African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines Vol. 3(4) 2006: 78-9

Keladi candik (Alocasia longiloba Miq.) petiole extracts promote wound healing in a full thickness excision wound model in rats

Objective: To investigate the wound-healing effect of Alocasia longiloba (A. longiloba) petiole extract on wounds in rats. Methods: Twenty-two male Sprague-dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive 10% solcoseryl gel, phosphate buffer saline, 50% ethanol, 95% ethanol and hexane extracts of A. longiloba at 1.5%, 3% and 6% doses, respectively. A full thicknesses wound (6 mm) was created on the dorsal of the rat; and all rats were applied with the extract solutions, 10% solcoseryl gel and phosphate buffer saline once a day topically until day 12. The wound was photographed on day 1, 6 and 12, and the percentage of wound contraction was calculated. On day 12, rats were sacrificed and histological examination of granulation tissue was carried out using haematoxylin & eosin and Masson’s Trichrome stain to determine the wound healing effect. Results: In this study, 6% of 50% and 95% ethanol extracts of A. longiloba showed 82.50% and 82.32% wound contraction, respectively, and were comparable with 10% solcoseryl gel (82.30%). Meanwhile, phosphate buffer saline treated group showed the lowest wound contraction (69.86%). Histological assessment of wound treated with 6% of 95% ethanol extract of A. longiloba showed distinct epidermal and dermal layer, higher proliferation of fibroblast and more angiogenesis with collagen compared to other wound treated groups. Conclusions: A. longiloba petiole extracts have a wound healing potential and 6% of 95% ethanol extract of A. longiloba is more effective. Further studies are required to understand the wound healing mechanism of action of the extract