Sains Malaysiana 45(2)(2016): 215–220

Tualang Honey Consumption Enhanced Hippocampal Pyramidal Count

and Spatial Memory Performance of Adult Male Rats

(Pengambilan Madu Tualang Meningkatkan Bilangan Sel Piramid Hipokampus

dan Prestasi Ingatan ReruangTikus Jantan Dewasa)

Mohd Amiruddin Kamarulzaidi¹, M.Y. Zulkifli Mohd. Yusoff², Abdul Majid Mohamed³ & Durriyyah Sharifah Hasan Adli*⁴

¹Institute of Graduate Studies, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

²Al-Qur'an and Hadith Department, Academy of Islamic Studies, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

³Division of Biology, Center for Foundation Studies in Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

⁴Division of Biohealth Science, Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Received: 9 October 2014/Accepted: 19 August 2015

ABSTRACT

As a natural anti-oxidant source, Tualang honey, produced by wild bees nesting on the Tualang tree (Koompassia excelsa) is expected to have positive influence on health, including memory. This study investigated the effect of Tualang honey on the cell count of memory formation related hippocampal pyramidal neuron and on spatial memory performance (SMP) of rats using the radial arm maze (RAM). Sprague Dawley male rats (n=24), 7-8 weeks old were divided into two groups; experimental group group force-fed 1 mL/100 g body weight with 70% honey (HG); and the control group with 0.9% saline (CG) for 12 weeks. Nissl staining technique (with cresyl violet) was employed for neurohistological analysis of the hippocampal tissue. Six randomly selected rats from each group were used for the neuronal soma counting of pyramidal cell layer CA1, CA3a and CA3c regions. Two-way ANOVA analysis showed positively significant differences between treatment and control groups for SMP comparison of working memory and reference memory components, as well as the number of pyramidal neurons. Hence, this positive effects of Tualang honey, as demonstrated behaviorally and neurohistologically, supported report that Tualang honey could improve memory and deter hippocampal morphological impairments; possibly due to its high anti-oxidant properties.

Keywords: Radial arm maze; reference memory; Tualang honey; working memory

ABSTRAK

Sebagai sumber antioksida semula jadi, madu Tualang yang dihasilkan oleh lebah liar yang bersarang di pokok Tualang (Koompassia excelsa) dijangka mempunyai pengaruh yang positif ke atas kesihatan, termasuk ingatan. Penyelidikan ini mengkaji kesan madu Tualang ke atas bilangan neuron piramid hipokampus yang berkait dengan pembentukan ingatan dan prestasi ingatan reruang (SMP) tikus menggunakan lorongan keliru lengan radial (RAM). Tikus Sprague Dawley jantan (n=24), 7-8 minggu telah dibahagikan kepada dua kumpulan; kumpulan eksperimen disuap-paksa 1 mL/100 g berat badan dengan 70% madu (HG) dan kumpulan kawalan dengan 0.9% salin (CG) untuk 12 minggu. Teknik pewarnaan Nissl (dengan ungu kresil) telah digunakan untuk analisis neurohistologi tisu hipokampus. Enam tikus dipilih secara rawak daripada setiap kumpulan dan telah digunakan untuk pengiraan lapisan sel soma neuron piramid daripada kawasan CA1, CA3a dan CA3c. Analisis ANOVA dua hala menunjukkan perbezaan positif yang signifikan antara kumpulan HG dan CG untuk perbandingan SMP antara komponen ingatan kerja dan ingatan rujukan, serta bilangan neuron piramid. Oleh itu, kesan positif Tualang madu, seperti yang ditunjukkan daripada aspek tingkah laku dan neurohistologi, menyokong laporan bahawa madu Tualang boleh meningkatkan ingatan dan menghalang gangguan terhadap morfologi hipokampus; berkemungkinan kerana sifat antioksidanya yang tinggi.

Kata kunci: Ingatan kerja; ingatan rujukan; lorongan keliru lengan radial; madu Tualang

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*Corresponding author; email: durriyyah@um.edu.my