Honey and apoptosis in human gastric mucosa.

BACKGROUND Gastric cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in the world. Honey is a complex mixture of special biological active constituents. Honey possesses antioxidant and antitumor properties. Nutritional studies have indicated that consumption of honey modulates the risk of developing gastric cancer. On the other hand, apoptosis has been reported to play a decisive role in precancerous changes. Our chief study was conducted to assess the relationship between consumption of honey and apoptosis in human gastric mucosa. METHOD This cross-sectional study was conducted on 98 subjects over 18 years old, referred to two hospitals in Tabriz, Iran. Subjects were undergone an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, 62 subjects were finally enrolled. Honey consumption was assessed by a Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and apoptosis was detected by TUNEL technique. We tested polynomial curve to find the best fit between honey consumption and apoptosis. RESULTS A positive relation between honey consumption and apoptosis was found (P=0.024). Our results indicated that the final and the best fit curve was: apoptosis = 1.714+1.648(honey amount) - 0.533(honey amount)2 +1.833×10-5(honey amount)7. CONCLUSION Honey consumption had positive effects on gastric cancer by inducing apoptosis in gastric mucosa.