Docosahexaenoic Acid and Tualang Honey Improve Brain Oxidative Status in Chronic Stress Rat Model

The main objective of this study was to investigate the protective effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and Tualang honey (TH) and their combination on several parameters of oxidative stress of the brain following exposure to chronic stress. Five groups of male Sprague Dawley rats ( 10 animal per group) were allocated in which Group 1 received normal saline and used as control; Group 2 was exposed to stress and received normal saline; Group 3 was exposed to stress and reviewed DHA (450 mg/kg body weight BD); Group 4 was exposed to stress and received TH (1 g/kg body weight BD), and  Group 5 was exposed to stress and  received combination of DHA and TH. Animals were exposed to chronic stress from 9 am to 2 pm daily for 4 weeks. The following oxidative parameters were measured: total antioxidant status (TAS) , glutathione, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and protein carbonyl. The results showed that DHA, TH and their combination significantly reduced (p<0.05) stress-induced elevation of corticosterone and TBARS levels and concurrently caused a significantly increased (p<0.05) in TAS level. With regard to glutathione and protein carbonyl, only TH and combination of DHA+TH significantly reduced (p<0.05) the oxidised glutathione and protein carbonyl. In all parameters, there was no significant difference between Group 5 in comparison to Group 3 and Group 4 indicating combination of DHA and TH was not superior to consuming DHA and TH alone. In conclusion, TH and to lesser extent DHA may protect the brain against oxidative stress induced by exposure to chronic stress but consuming these substances together does not give synergistic effect. Keywords: Oxidative stress, Honey, Docosahexaenoic acid, Chronic stress, Brain