The Relationship Between Oxidative Stress and Apoptosis of Histopathological Changes Made by Mad Honey Containing Grayanotoxin in the Ovary

Honey poisoning is caused by consuming honey produced by bees that feed on Rhododendron family plants. Rhododendron poisoning goes by names such as mad honey poisoning or grayanotoxin poisoning. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of grayanotoxin in mad honey on ovarian tissue folliculogenesis in terms of cell death and nitric oxide expression. Three groups of 18 female Sprague-Dawley rats were formed. The first group received mad honey (80 mg/kg), the second group received normal honey (80 mg/kg), and the third group is control. The first and second groups received normal and mad honey by oral gavage for 30 days before being sacrificed under anesthesia The caspase 3 immunostaining group observed a moderate to a strong response, particularly in the granulosa cells of the Graaf follicles in the mad honey group, while the normal honey and control groups observed a weak to moderate reaction. In the mad honey group, immunostaining for caspase8 and caspase 9 revealed a moderate immunoreaction in the granulosa cells of the Graaf follicles, while expression was weak in the normal honey and control groups. The TUNEL approach revealed that the majority of Graaf follicles that exhibited TUNEL positive in the mad honey group and progressed to atresia were Graaf follicles. The iNOS immunoreaction revealed a high level of expression in the mad honey group, particularly in several Graaf follicles. In all three groups, a weak reactivity to eNOS immunostaining was seen in both Graaf follicles and theca external layers. According to the findings of apoptotic and nitric oxide marker expression, it was determined that mad honey may result in an increase in follicular atresia in ovarian follicles when compared to normal honey and control groups.