1. INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE (iNASCON) 2016
THE PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF TUALANG HONEY IN MODULATING PAIN BEHAVIOUR IN THE RAT OFFSPRING FOLLOWING PRENATAL STRESS
Siti Qusyasyiah Ahmad Suhaimia, Hidani Hasima, Che Badariah Abd Aziza , Asma Hayati Ahmada, Idris Longb . 
aDepartment of Physiology, School of Medical Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
bSchool of Health Sciences, Health Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kubang Kerian, Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia
Introduction
Objective
Prenatal stress is associated with alteration of pain behavior in the rat offspring and administration of Tualang honey has been shown to minimize the changes. There has been no recent investigation to determine the mechanism by which Tualang honey modulates pain behavior at the spinal cord level in the rat offspring.
To determine the effects of Tualang honey administration on pain behavior, catalase activity and morphological changes in the spinal cord of rat offspring exposed to prenatal stress.
Methodology
Pregnant rats were divided into three groups; control (C), stress (S) and stress plus honey (SH). Tualang honey (1.2 g/kg) or distilled water was
administered orally. The S and SH groups were subjected to stress by repeated restraining from day 11 of pregnancy until delivery. Ten weeks old male offspring (n=6 from each group) were given pain stimulus and their pain behavior recorded. After two hours, the rats were sacrificed and their spinal cords removed to assess catalase activity and morphology. Behavioural and histological data were analysed using SPSS version 22. Pain behaviour data in the form of formalin test score were analysed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) while the catalase activity and morphology of spinal cord was determined by one-way ANOVA. The significance level was taken as 0.05.
Results
There was significant reduction in pain behavior in SH group compared to S group (p<0.05) (Figure 1). The difference in the catalase level was not that significant between C and SH groups (p=0.046), as compared to the difference between C and S groups (p=0.001) (Figure 2). What does this indicate, what is the role of catalase? The SH group also showed significant increase in the number of Nissl-positive cells in the lamina I of spinal cord compared to S group (Figure 3). What does Figure 4 show?
Figure 1: Formalin test score in rat offspring (n=13 in each group). Values are mean ± SEM. *p<0.05
Figure 2: Catalase level in rat offspring (n=6 in each groups). *p<0.05
(a)
(b)
Figure 3: Number of Nissl-positive cells in lamina I of spinal cord (n=6 in each group). *p<0.05
Figure 4: Light Microscope Photography of Spinal Cord Morphology
in (a) Stress Group and (b) Stress + Honey group. Add some description. Magnification 20X.
Conclusion
Tualang honey administration during prenatal stress improved pain behavior, catalase activity and number of Nissl-positive cells in the spinal cord of offspring exposed to prenatal stress. This study provides an insight into the underlying mechanism of the protective effect of Tualang honey from neuronal damage in the spinal cord of offspring exposed to prenatal stress.
References
Che Badariah Abd Aziz, Rozaziana Ahmad, Mahaneem Mohamed, Wan Nazirah Wan Yusof (2013). The effects of Tualang honey intake during prenatal stress on pain responses in the rat offsprings. European Journal of Integrative Medicine, 5:326–331