Antihistamine Effect of Bee Honey in Wistar Rats

Abstract

According to the Ayruveda classic Ashtanga Hridaya, written around 500 AD, honey can be used to treat many diseases. Eight types of honey are mentioned in Ayurvedic authentic texts. Out of these eight types of honey, the variety produced by honey bees is the most commonly referred to and is the type of honey consumed by humans. Honey produced by other bees and insects has distinctly different properties. Anti- inflammatory, anti-pyretic and anti-noceceptive effects of bee honey were established in Wistar rats in our recent experimental studies. In the present study, our aim was to evaluate the antihistamine potential of bee honey in Wistar rats, in order to elucidate one mechanism of anti- inflammatory action. The antihistamine effect of bee honey was compared with distilled water and chlorpheniramine controls in 3 groups of Wistar rats (n=6 in each). One hour after drug and bee honey administration, these rats were subcutaneously injected with 50 ?l of 200 ?g/ml of histamine dihydrochloride into the skin where the fur had been shaved, and 2 minutes later the area of the wheal formed was measured and percentage reductions in wheal area were calculated. The results of the study showed the bee honey induced an inhibition of wheal formation in the test group (31.0%) which was not statistically significant (p>0.05).The chlorpheniramine treated group showed 40.0% reduction in wheal formation when compared to the negative control group and it was statistically significant (p < 0.05). This study reveals that antihistamine effect is not a mechanism of anti- inflammatory activity of bee honey.