The effects of feeding obese rats with bee bread on leptin and ghrelin expression

Abstract

Obesity is an important public health problem and a risk factor for many chronic diseases, and its prevalence is increasingrapidly. In recent years there has been interest in the impact of nutrients on obesity and this has been addressed as a research topic. Beebread is a bee product that has recently attracted attention with its macro- and micronutrients and the enzymes and biocomponentsit contains. Although there are many studies on the biological properties and effects of bee bread, its effect on obesity with leptin andghrelin has not been investigated. In this study, 40 Sprague-Dawley adult female rats were separated into 4 groups after they had becomeobese by having been fed with commercial high-fat food. While the 1st group was the control, the 2nd group was the obese controland bee bread was given to the 3rd and 4th groups (100 and 200 mg/kg bw/day), and in the 5th group metformin (300 mg/kg/day) wasprovided. Histopathological and immunohistochemical analysis was performed in hypothalamus tissues, and biochemical analyseswere conducted of blood samples and hypothalamus tissues by ELISA methods. The apoptotic cell level was determined by the TUNELmethod. The results of the immunohistochemical assessment of the hypothalamus tissues were consistent, and the levels of leptinand ghrelin were inversely correlated in the samples. Biochemical analysis showed that MDA levels increased with obesity whereasdifferences in SOD, CAT, and XOD levels were not statistically significant. Bee bread improved lipid peroxidation caused by obesity. Itwas shown that obesity caused apoptotic cell count increase and bee bread decreased it. Bee bread administration (200 mg/kg/day) hadpositive effects on weight control and other parameters.