The investigation of effect of royal jelly usage on female reproductive health and infertility in rats

Royal jelly is a bee product secreted from the hypopharyngeal glands of young worker bees. In this thesis study, the effects of royal jelly, whose content and antioxidative properties were determined, on growth, development and reproductive health were investigated. For this purpose, both immature and mature female Spraque Dawley rats were used in the study. Immature (30 days old) rats were divided into 4 groups control (IM) and fed with 200 mg/kg (IM200), 300 mg/kg (IM300) and 400 mg/kg (IM400) royal jelly for 75 days. Mature (60 days old) rats were divided into four groups control (M) and fed with 200 mg/kg (M200), 300 mg/kg (M300) and 400 mg/kg (M400) royal jelly for 45 days. During the feeding period, weight and height of the rats were measured, heart bloods were taken. At the end of the feeding period, when all rats reached 105 days of age, they were sacrificed and their ovarian and uterine tissues were removed. No effect of feeding royal jelly on height, weight and body mass index (BMI) was found (p>0.05). No significant effect of feeding royal jelly on growth hormone (GH), progesterone (P) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) was detected (p>0.05). Increasing dose of royal jelly showed an increase in estradiol (E2) levels in immature groups and a decrease in mature groups. Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) decreased dose-dependently in the groups fed royal jelly for a long time (75 days) starting from the immature period. Feeding with 200 mg/kg royal jelly in the mature age increased the primordial (PF I) count and increased the GSH-Px antioxidant properties in ovarian and uterine tissues. When royal jelly was fed for a long time from the immature period onwards, it showed protective properties on the endometrial and myometrial structure. The findings showed that royal jelly did not cause abnormal growth and development in children. It was concluded that royal jelly positively affected female reproductive health by balancing hormones and improving the physical conditions of the reproductive organs; it has an effect that extends female reproductive life.