Tualang Honey Protects the Rat Midbrain and Lung against Repeated Paraquat Exposure

Abstract EN

Paraquat (PQ) is a dopaminergic neurotoxin and a well-known pneumotoxicant that exerts its toxic effect via oxidative stress-mediated cellular injuries.

This study investigated the protective effects of Tualang honey against PQ-induced toxicity in the midbrain and lungs of rats.

The rats were orally treated with distilled water (2 mL/kg/day), Tualang honey (1.0 g/kg/day), or ubiquinol (0.2 g/kg/day) throughout the experimental period.

Two weeks after the respective treatments, the rats were injected intraperitoneally with saline (1 mL/kg/week) or PQ (10 mg/kg/week) once per week for four consecutive weeks.

After four weekly exposures to PQ, the glutathione peroxidase activity and the number of tyrosine-hydroxylase immunopositive neurons in the midbrain were significantly decreased in animals from group PQ (p<0.05).

The lungs of animals from group PQ showed significantly decreased activity of superoxide dismutase and glutathione-S-transferase.

Treatment with Tualang honey ameliorated the toxic effects observed in the midbrain and lungs.

The beneficial effects of Tualang honey were comparable to those of ubiquinol, which was used as a positive control.

These findings suggest that treatment with Tualang honey may protect against PQ-induced toxicity in the rat midbrain and lung.