The Possible Protective Role of Bees Honey against Hazard Effects of Some Synthetic Food Additives on the Kidney Functions of Male Rats

Recently the use of synthetic food additives was increased and the levels of human exposure to such agents are very broad, thus feeding over long periods may continually possess potential hazards to the human health. Also, protection against the adverse biological action of these widely used preservatives deserves a great attention. Therefore the aim of this work was to evaluate the protective role of bees honey against the kidney dysfunctions induced by food additives (sodium nitrite as a food preservative and sunset yellow as a food colorants) in male albino rats. The results of this study revealed that the oral administration of both sodium nitrite (10 mg/Kg body weight) and sunset yellow (0.6% w/w in diet) for 4 weeks induced renal dysfunction as reflected by a significant elevation in serum levels of uric acid, urea and creatinine, which was accompanied with a significant reduction in their urinary levels as well as in creatinine clearance. This results is apparently linked to the presently observed increase in potassium and decrease in sodium and calcium levels in both serum and urine. The study also showed a significant decrease in total protein and albumin levels as well as an increase in renal protein carbonyl content in rats administered both sodium nitrite and sunset yellow. Furthermore, enzymes activity represented in alkaline phosphatase (ALP), gamma-glutamyl transferase (γGT) and Na/K ATPase showed marked increase in both ALP and γGT and decrease in Na/K ATPase activity, while the number of the nephrons was non-significantly changed after the administration of these food additives. On the other hand, the daily intake of natural bees honey at a dose of 2.5g/Kg body weight resulted in sufficient amelioration against the hazard effects of food additives as indicated by the observed improvement in all tested biochemical parameters of kidney functions. Virtually, strict regulations have been set for the use of synthetic food additives to avoid introducing materials injurious to health.