Honey and metformin ameliorated diabetes-induced damages in testis of rat; correlation with hormonal changes

The global prevalence of diabetes mellitus is on rise. Diabetes-induced oxidative stress has been known to affect liver, pancreas, kidney and reproductive organs pathologically. Honey is a natural product of bee with antioxidant properties. Current study aimed to analyze the protective effects of Metformin [MF] alone and MF+ natural honey co-administration on diabetes-induced histological derangements in testis of rats. Thirty six, mature male Wistar rats were randomly divided into six groups including; control, honey-dosed non-diabetic, diabetes-induced [65 mg/kg, single dose], honey-administrated diabetic [1.0 g/kg/day], Metformin-received diabetic [100 mg/kg/day], Metformin and honey-co-treated diabetic which were followed 40 days. The animals were anesthetized by diethyl ether and the blood samples were collected. The serum levels of testosterone, Insulin, LH and FSH analyzed using antibody enzyme immunoassay method. The testicular tissues were dissected out and underwent to histological analyses. The biochemical analyses revealed that the diabetes resulted in significantly reduced testosterone [p<0.01], LH and FSH [P<0.01, 0.001] levels in serum. Light microscopic analyses showed remarkable [p<0.01] reduction in seminiferous tubules diameter [STD], spermiogenesis index [SPI] and thickness of the epithelium in the diabetic group versus control and co-treated groups. Simultaneous administration of the honey with MF could fairly up-regulate testosterone, LH and FSH levels. The animals in metformin and honey-treated group exhibited with improved tubules atrophy, elevated spermiogenesis index and germinal epithelium thickness. Our data indicated that co-administration of Metformin and honey could inhibit the diabetes-induced damages in testicular tissue. Moreover, the simultaneous administration of metformin and honey up-regulated the diabetes-reduced insulin, LH, FSH and testosterone levels

Effect of natural honey from Ilam and metformin for improving glycemic control in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Diabetes mellitus is a public health problem and one of the five leading causes of death globally. In the present study, the effect of Metformin with natural honey was investigated on glycemia in the Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Thirty Wistar male rats were randomly divided into six groups including C: non diabetic rats received distilled water, CH: non diabetic rats received honey, CD: diabetic rats administered with distilled water, DM: Metformin treated diabetic rats, DH: honey treated diabetic rats, and DMH: diabetic rats treated with a combination of Metformin and natural honey. Diabetes was induced by a single dose of Streptozotocin [65 mg/kg; i.p.]. The animals were treated by oral gavage once daily for four weeks. At the end of the treatment period, the animals were sacrificed and their blood samples collected. Amount of glucose, triglyceride [TG], total cholesterol [TC], HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, VLDL cholesterol, total bilirubin, and albumin were determined in serum. Group CD: showed hyperglycemia [252.2 +/- 4.1 mg/dl], while level of blood glucose was significantly [p<0.01] reduced in groups DH [124.2 +/- 2.7 mg/dl], DM [108.0 +/- 3.4 mg/dl], and DMH [115.4 +/- 2.1 mg/dl]. Honey in combination with Metformin significantly [p<0.01] reduced level of bilirubin but Metformin alone did not reduce bilirubin. Honey alone and in combination with Metformin also significantly reduced triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, VLDL and increased HDL, but Metformin did not reduced triglycerides and increased HDL. The results of the present study demonstrated that consuming natural honey with Metformin improves glycemic control and is more useful than consuming Metformin alone. The higher therapeutic effect of Ilam honey on lipid abnormalities than Tualang honey was also evident