Renal protective effects of natural honey on animal model of hypertension

Abstract

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death worldwide. Numerous investigations have established that hypertension can cause alterations in the cardiovascular system as well as renal structure and function. Fresh honey is consumed worldwide and is claimed to be highly medicinal and has therapeutic effects against a wide range of medical conditions. We investigated the renal protective effect of natural honey in in animal model of hypertension. Forty (40) male albino rats, with average weight (120 ±10 g) were administered with high salt diet, HSD (80 g NaCl + 1 kg of diet and 1% NaCl in drinking water (10 g of NaCl + 1 L distilled water) for 10 weeks to induce hypertension in the rats. Following confirmation, hypertensive male rats were randomly selected for the experiment. Twenty (20) albino rats (15 hypertensive rats and 5 normotensive rats) were divided into 4 groups, Groups A-D. Group A: (Normotensive Control) no administration was given; Groups B-D (hypertensive rats) received the following treatments. Group B was treated with natural honey (15 ml/kg), Group C treated with hydrochlorothiazide (0.15 mg/kg), daily for 21 days; while Group D received no treatment, until the end of the 21 days administrations. Blood samples were taken in the end, and renal alterations were assessed via biochemical and histopathological analyses. Results showed that salt-induced hypertension caused a marked elevation of the renal biochemical parameters. The histopathological results agree with the biochemical findings. However and interestingly, natural honey (15 ml/kg. oral) showed significant efficacy in the recovery and protection on the kidney as the standard anti-hypertensive drug, hydrochlorothiazide (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Natural honey has a renal protective effects and may manage renal hypertension or prevent kidney injury secondary to high blood pressure.