Can royal jelly protect against renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats?

Royal jelly (RJ) is a honeybee secretion, has numerous medicinal properties in particular antioxidant activities. Ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) is one of the main challenges in acute kidney damage. This study was designed to assess the anti-inflammatory and protective effects of RJ against I/R-induced renal disorders. Forty male rats were randomly divided into four groups (n = 10) as sham (0.9% saline) group, I/R group, RJ group (treated for 15 consecutive days by gavage with 300 mg/kg/day RJ), and I/R + RJ group that were pretreated for 15 consecutive days by gavage with 300 mg/kg/day of RJ. The I/R-induced renal inflammation was evaluated by determining leukocyte infiltration and mRNA expression level of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 and tumor necrotic factor-alpha (TNF-α). Antioxidant capacity of kidneys and thiobarbituric acid reactive species was measured in kidneys for the evaluation of oxidative stress. In addition, the diameter of renal glomeruli, kidney function indicators, and serum nitrite oxide (NO) levels was determined. The I/R increased the completely measured parameters, except the tissue ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP) level, which was decreased compared to the sham group (P < 0.05). However, pretreatment with RJ reduced significantly blood urea nitrogen, kidney malondialdehyde, creatinine, glomerular diameter, leukocyte infiltration, levels of TNF-α, adhesion molecule-1 expression, and NO and increased tissue FRAP compared to the I/R group (P < 0.05). It seems that RJ administration improved I/R-induced acute kidney injury.