Objective: To investigate the neuroprotective role of honey against oxidative stress and neuroinflammation induced by MPTP in adult male Swiss mice.

Background: Oxidative stress and chronic inflammation have been noted as prominent factors in PD development and progression, of importance is glial cells activation as the main source of oxidative stressors, inflammatory cytokines, and antioxidant liberation. Moreover, one of the differential diagnoses of PD is its response to L-Dopa treatment which does not prevent its progression. Hence, the is a need for a neuroprotective therapy that will prevent the death of these neurons and/ or halt the progression of PD. Honey has been reported to be a radical scavenging gel as well as an enhancer of the antioxidant defence system in addition to its anti-inflammatory role.

Method: 40 adult male Swiss mice used for this study were divided into control and PD model groups of 20 animals each. 10 of the control animals received PBS while the others received 2g/kg body weight of honey (HON) for 21 days. However, 10 of the PD model group were pretreated with HON before PD induction. Behavioural studies were conducted 2 days after the induction while the animals were sacrificed 7 days after the induction. PD was induced by the administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) 4 times at 2-hour intervals.

Results: The result shows that there were significantly (P≤0.05) higher motor activities in the PD models pretreated with the honey when compared to the non-treated PD models. furthermore, honey pretreatment prevented the midbrain gliosis observed in the non-treated PD models. Honey also prevented the respective downregulation and upregulation of the nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) expressions induced by MPTP at P≤0.05.

Conclusion: The study concluded that honey administration prevented MPTP-induced oxidative stress, inflammation, and gliosis thereby preserving the motor behaviours of the experimental mice.

References: Percário, S., da Silva Barbosa, A., Varela, E., Gomes, A., Ferreira, M., de Nazaré Araújo Moreira, T., & Dolabela, M. F. (2020). Oxidative Stress in Parkinson’s Disease: Potential Benefits of Antioxidant Supplementation. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2020, 2360872. https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/2360872

Sherer, T. B., Betarbet, R., & Greenamyre, J. T. (2002). Environment, mitochondria, and Parkinson’s disease. The Neuroscientist : a review journal bringing neurobiology, neurology and psychiatry, 8(3), 192–197.

Blesa, J., Trigo-Damas, I., Quiroga-Varela, A., & Jackson-Lewis, V. R. (2015). Oxidative stress and Parkinson’s disease. Frontiers in neuroanatomy, 9, 91. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnana.2015.00091

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/honey-prevented-mptp-induced-oxidative-stress-neuroinflammation-and-gliosis-in-adult-male-swiss-mice/