Therapeutic effect of some honeybee products on alleviating symptoms of osteoarthritis in male albino rats

Abstract

Background and Aim: Honeybee products, besides their nutritional benefits, have a role in relieving the symptoms of many diseases. Thus, this work aimed to evaluate the ther-apeutic effect of honey, royal jelly, and venom on alleviating osteoarthritis symptoms in male albino rats.Materials and Methods: This work was carried out from March to June 2017; 50 male albino rats were used and divided into five groups: first 10 rats as controlled group, sec-ond 10 rats as infected of arthritis by injected monosodium iodoacetate, 10 arthritic rats treated with honey as third group, 10 arthritic rats treated with royal jelly as fourth group, and 10 arthritic rats treated with venom as fifth group. From all groups, blood samples were collected, the hematological parameters—RBC, WBC, Hg, HCT, RF and CRP and biochemical parameters—serum level of sodium, potassium, and calcium were measured. Results: Data obtained showed that significant differences with all hematological and biochemical parameters in arthritic rats cured by royal jelly, honey, and venom in RBC, Hg, and RF, respectively, whereas WBC, HCT, and CRP showed more effect in arthritic rats treated with honey, venom, and royal jelly, respectively. In the serum level of sodium and potassium, the superior effects on arthritics rats were caused by honey, followed by venom and royal jelly, respectively. Serum level of calcium was recorded high level in arthritic rats cured by venom, honey, and royal jelly, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this work indicated that the symptoms of arthritis were allevi-ating in rats treated with honey, venom, and royal jelly, respectively.