The Effect of Administering Forest Honey to Rats Exposed to Physical Stress on Corticosteroid Levels, Folliculogenesis and the Number of Corpus Luteum

Widjiati Widjiati¹, Suryo Kuntjorodjakti¹, Aditya Tri Ananda², Mey Vanda Pusparina Sajida², Alivia Fairuz Ilmi², Meisa Zalfa Adisti³, Dean Chou⁴ and Epy Muhammad Luqman^1*

¹Department of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia,

²Postgraduate Reproductive Biology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia

³Graduate Student Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya 60115, Jawa Timur, Indonesia,

⁴Department of Biomedical Engineering National Cheng Kung University, No. 1, Dasyue Rd, East District, Tainan City, Taiwan

Corresponding Author E-mail: epy-m-l@fkh.unair.ac.id

Abstract: Livestock that has stress releases glucocorticoids in response to it, and it causes inhibition of the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonadal axis (HPG) signaling pathway so that it reduces reproductive efficiency. Forest honey can reduce corticosteroid levels as a stress response from physical stress induction which is expected to increase reproductive efficiency including folliculogenesis and the formation of the corpus luteum. This study aims to determine the effect of forest honey on rats (Rattus novergicus) exposed to physical stress on corticosteroid levels, folliculogenesis, and the number of corpus luteum. This study is an experimental laboratory one using 32 rats which were divided into 4 treatment groups; control positive (C) treated with physical stress, treatment 1 (T1) treated with physical stress + honey 2 g/rat/day PO, treatment 2 (T2) treated with physical stress  + honey 4 g/rat/day PO and treatment 3 (T3) treated with physical stress + honey 6 g/rat/day PO. All treatments were carried out for 14 days. The results showed that T1 had the lowest corticosteroid level compared to all treatment groups and the corticosteroid level of this group was significantly different (p <0.05) compared to that of  C and T3. The folliculogenesis profile showed that the number of primary secondary, tertiary, and Graafian follicles of group T1 was significantly different (p<0.05) compared to that of C, T2, and T3. In terms of the number of corpus luteum, it showed that T1 had the highest number of corpus luteum, and the number of corpus luteum in this group was significantly different (p<0.05) from that of C, T2, and T3.  It can be concluded that the administration of forest honey at a dose of 2g/rat/day could reduce corticosteroid levels, improve the folliculogenesis profile, and increase the number of corpus luteum in rats exposed to physical stress. The use of forest honey could reduce corticosteroid levels as a stress response from physical stress induction which was expected to increase reproductive efficiency.

Keywords: Corticosteroid; Folliculogenesis; Health care; Honey; Physical Stress

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