Abstract

This research was conducted to study the protective effect of bee honey on the 7,12-dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)- induced breast cancer in rat model. The study consisted of three groups: honey group, positive control group (PC), and negative control group (NC) to which the carcinogen was not administered. All rats were fed the diet recommended by the American Institute of Nutrition for growing rats (AIN-93G), with addition of honey (50 g/kg diet) to the honey group. All Rats were fed their diets ad libitum on 12 hours dark/light cycle. At the age of 50 days all rats in the honey and PC groups were gavaged once by the carcinogen DMBA with a dose of 80 mg/kg body Wt. After three weeks of carcinogen administration, rats were palpated weekly to detect any tumor growth. After 18 weeks, all rats were sacrificed. The palpable structures and the mammary glands along with associated lymph nodes were removed and fixed in saline formalin and prepared for histopathological examination. The results revealed that the honey group diet significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the incidence rate of mammary cancer, palpable tumor multiplicity, tumor size and weight compared to the PC group. In conclusion, multi floral honey has a protective effect against DMBA- induced mammary cancer in the initiation, promotion, and progression stages of DMBA-induced mammary carcinogenesis. However, further research is needed to reveal the mechanisms that might have contributed to the preventive effect of honey against mammary cancer.

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