Nephroprotective effect of bee honey and royal jelly against subchronic cisplatin toxicity in rats

Cisplatin is one of the most potent and effective chemotherapeutic agents. However, its antineoplastic use is limited due to its cumulative nephrotoxic side effects. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to examine the nephroprotective potential of dietary bee honey and royal jelly against subchronic cisplatin toxicity in rats. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into controls, cisplatin-treated, bee honey-pretreated cisplatin-treated and royal jelly-pretreated cisplatin-treated groups. Bee honey and royal jelly were given orally at doses of 20 and 100 mg/kg, respectively. Subchronic toxicity was induced by cisplatin (1 mg/kg bw, ip), twice weekly for 10 weeks. Cisplatin treated animals revealed a significant increase in serum level of renal injury products (urea, creatinine and uric acid). Histopathologically, cisplatin produced pronounced tubulointerstitial injuries, upregulated the fibrogenic factors, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) and transforming growth factor β1(TGF-β1), and downregulated the cell proliferation marker, bromodeoxyuridine (Brdu). Dietary bee honey and royal jelly normalized the elevated serum renal injury product biomarkers, improved the histopathologic changes, reduced the expression of α-SMA and TGF-β1 and increased the expression of Brdu. Therefore, it could be concluded that bee honey, and royal jelly could be used as dietary preventive natural products against subchronic cisplatin-induced renal injury.