Cardio Protective Effects of Natural Honey on Animal Model of Hypertension

Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease and premature death worldwide. 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 cardio 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. Three consecutive blood pressure readings were taken in the end, and cardiac alterations were assessed via biochemical and histopathological analyses. Results showed that salt-induced hypertension caused a marked elevation of the cardiac 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 heart as the standard anti-hypertensive drug, hydrochlorothiazide (p < 0.05 or p < 0.01). Natural honey has a cardi protective effects and may manage high blood pressure.