Amelioration of Cadmium-Induced Biochemical Alterations in Heart Tissues of Wistar Rats Using Bee Honey

The hunt for potential remedies for cadmium (Cd) toxicity is an exciting topic of research that is now being investigated globally. This study investigated amelioration of cadmium-induced biochemical alterations in heart tissues of Wistar rats using bee honey. Six groups (1–6) of thirty adult Wistar rats were used for the study: control, sub-chronic Cd exposure, sub-chronic Cd exposure plus honey, acute Cd exposure, acute Cd exposure plus honey, and honey only. For the sub-chronic investigation, Cd chloride (CdCl2) was injected intraperitoneally (IP) at a dose of 2mg/kg body weight every two days for a period of four weeks, and for the acute trial, a dose of 4 mg/kg body weight was injected IP 12 hours prior to sacrifice. 1 ml/kg of body weight of honey was given orally once every day for four weeks. According to the study, groups 2 and 4 had substantially greater levels of lipid peroxidation and acid phosphatase (ACP) activity in the heart tissues compared to group 1. Catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme activity were also significantly decreased. This study shows that honey treatment significantly ameliorates Cd-induced toxicities in heart tissues by suppressing lipid peroxidation and normalizing antioxidant enzyme activity. Further work should be done to identify specific phytochemical antioxidants and its mode of action in ameliorating Cd-induced toxicities in heart tissues.