Comparison of antinociceptive and antioxidative effects of Tualang honey and Vitamin C in a rat model of inflammatory pain

Abstract

This study aimed to compare the antinociceptive and antioxidative effects of Tualang honey and Vitamin C in formalininduced pain in the rat. About 24 Sprague Dawley male rats were randomized into three groups and each group (n=6) received either distilled water (C) or Tualang honey (1.2 g/kg body weight/day) (TH) or Vitamin C (20 mg/kg body weight/day) (VC) for 10 consecutive days. On the tenth day, intraplantar formalin 1% (0.1 mL) was given one hour after the treatment. Rat’s pain behaviour was recorded using a digital camera for an hour. The rats were sacrificed two hours postformalin injection and blood was taken to measure the malondialdehyde (MDA) level, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activities. TH not VC significantly reduced the pain behavior score and improved oxidative stress parameters compared to control. However, MDA level was not significantly different between groups. Interestingly, there was a good inverse correlation between CAT level and mean pain behavior score suggesting the important role of antioxidants in modulating the inflammatory pain responses. In conclusion, TH has better antinociceptive and antioxidative properties compared to VC. The antinociceptive property of TH might be partly contributed by increasing CAT level in this model of inflammatory pain.