Immuno-modulation and antioxidative roles of olive oil and bee honey following administration of crude oil to Wistar rats

The immuno-modulation and anti-oxidative roles of olive oil and bee honey following administration of crude oil to Wistar rats was investigated.Forty-eight male Wistar rats (145-342g body weight) were divided into six groups of unequal numbers.The rats in group I served as the control and were orally gavaged 10ml/kg body weight of distilled water; group II rats were administered 2ml/kg body weight of olive oil; group III rats were administered 14ml/kg body weight of Bee honey; group IV was orally gavaged 3ml/kg body weight of crude oil; group V were administered the dose as mentioned above of olive oil and 3ml/kg body weight of crude oil; group VI was gavaged the dose as mentioned earlier of Bee honey and 3ml/kg body weight of crude oil for 21days.The results revealed that crude oil markedly induced oxidative stress by significantly (p<0.05)reducing activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase activity (CAT) while significantly (p<0.05)increasing malonydialdehyde (MDA) level when compared to control, olive oil and bee honey groups.Co-administration of olive oil and bee honey with crude oil to groups V and VI respectively significantly elevated SOD and CAT activities while significantly (p<0.05)reducing MDA levels when compared with control, olive oil and bee honey groups.This study suggest that crude oil significantly (p<0.05)increased immunoglobulin status (IgA, IgG and IgM) compared with control, olive oil and bee honey groups.These increases were significantly (p<0.05)reduced following co-administration of olive oil and bee honey with crude oil to groups V and VI respectively.According to the findings from the present study, the antioxidant properties of olive oil and bee honey can prevent oxidative stress and immunoglobulin status disruption that occur after administration of crude oil.