This study investigated long-term effect of the Obudu honey on selected biomarkers of energy storage regulation, compared to table sugar. Fifty Wistar rats assigned to 5 groups of 10 rats each, were fed rat chow only (NC), 8% table sugar (S8%), 16% table sugar (S16%), 10% honey (H10%) and 20% honey (H20%) diets respectively, for 29 weeks. On dry weight basis, the percentages of table sugar and honey for each level of incorporation were equivalent. Diet intake, body weights and fasting blood glucose (FBG) were measured fortnightly. At the end of the study, serum glucose, insulin, leptin and tissue necrosis factor – α (TNF-α), wet weight of white adipose tissues (WAT) were measured. After an initial adjustment to the diets, there was no significant difference in diet consumed by female and male subgroups, except the female group fed H20% which was consistently lower than the NC and the corresponding S16% fed group (P < 0.05). Both honey and sugar incorporated diets caused significant body weight gain in the female animals compared to NC; an effect which was higher with the honey than sugar, and depended on the level of each sweetener used as well as feeding duration (P < 0.05). Furthermore, S8% and S16% diets increased leptin concentration in the female rats, by 35.8 and 45.3% respectively compared with NC and by 63.8 and 40.5% compared to H10% and H20% respectively (P < 0.05). Also, the S8% and S16% diets significantly increased serum insulin in the female subgroups compared to the corresponding honey-sweetened diets; and in both male and female rats when compared to NC (P < 0.05). Lastly, the S8% and S16% diets also caused a dose-dependent increase of TNF-α in both female and male rats compared to the H10% and H20% diets and the control (P < 0.05). Data obtained from the study associated table sugar with obesigenic and inflammatory mechanisms more than the Obudu honey, particularly in the females. However, the data did not exempt the honey from obesigenic effect. The effects were subtle and may require a longer time to precipitate obesity.

中文翻译：

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长期喂养 Obudu 天然蜂蜜和食用含糖饮食对大鼠肥胖和促炎生物标志物的影响

与食糖相比，这项研究调查了 Obudu 蜂蜜对选定的能量储存调节生物标志物的长期影响。50 只 Wistar 大鼠被分为 5 组，每组 10 只大鼠，仅喂食大鼠食物 (NC)、8% 食糖 (S8%)、16% 食糖 (S16%)、10% 蜂蜜 (H10%) 和 20% 蜂蜜(H20%) 饮食，持续 29 周。在干重基础上，每个掺入水平的食糖和蜂蜜的百分比是相等的。每两周测量一次饮食摄入量、体重和空腹血糖（FBG）。在研究结束时，测量了血清葡萄糖、胰岛素、瘦素和组织坏死因子-α (TNF-α)、白色脂肪组织的湿重 (WAT)。在对饮食进行初步调整后，女性和男性亚组的饮食没有显着差异，除了喂食 H20% 的女性组一直低于 NC 和相应的 S16% 喂食组（P < 0.05）。与 NC 相比，添加蜂蜜和糖的饮食均导致雌性动物体重显着增加；蜂蜜比糖的效果更高，并且取决于使用的每种甜味剂的水平以及喂养时间（P <0.05）。此外，与 NC 相比，S8% 和 S16% 饮食使雌性大鼠的瘦素浓度分别增加 35.8% 和 45.3%，与 H10% 和 H20% 相比分别增加 63.8% 和 40.5%（P < 0.05）。此外，与相应的蜂蜜甜味饮食相比，S8% 和 S16% 饮食显着增加了女性亚组的血清胰岛素；与 NC 相比，在雄性和雌性大鼠中均存在 (P < 0.05)。最后，与 H10% 和 H20% 饮食以及对照组相比，S8% 和 S16% 饮食还导致雌性和雄性大鼠的 TNF-α 呈剂量依赖性增加（P < 0.05）。从研究中获得的数据比奥布杜蜂蜜更能将食糖与致肥胖和炎症机制联系起来，尤其是在女性中。然而，数据并没有免除蜂蜜的致胖作用。影响是微妙的，可能需要更长的时间才能诱发肥胖。