{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T17:23:44Z","timestamp":1787765024776,"version":"build-2784847793"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787702400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002385","name":"Ministry of Higher Education","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["FRGS\/1\/2019\/SKK06\/UKM\/03\/2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FRGS\/1\/2019\/SKK06\/UKM\/03\/2"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002385","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["FRGS\/1\/2019\/SKK06\/UKM\/03\/2"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FRGS\/1\/2019\/SKK06\/UKM\/03\/2"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05mcs2t73","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia"},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00bw8d226","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Life"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: High-carbohydrate high-fat (HCHF) diets have been associated with oxidative stress, impaired bone remodelling, and deterioration of skeletal integrity. Kelulut honey (KH), a stingless bee honey rich in antioxidant compounds, has demonstrated protective effects against bone loss; however, its effects on bone density, biomechanical properties, antioxidant status, and bone-related molecular markers remain incompletely understood. (2) Methods: Male Wistar rats were assigned to sham, negative control (NC), or KH-treated groups (200, 400, and 600 mg\/kg). The NC and KH groups received an HCHF diet for 24 weeks, with KH administered during the final 12 weeks. Bone microarchitecture was evaluated using micro-computed tomography, bone mineral density (BMD) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and biomechanical properties by three-point bending. Antioxidant enzyme activities, serum bone turnover markers, and bone-related gene expression were also assessed. (3) Results: HCHF feeding reduced BMD, load, stress, Young\u2019s modulus, gluthatione peroxidase (GPx) activity, and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity while increasing strain, displacement, serum C-terminal telopeptide of type 1 collagen (CTX-1) and receptor activator of nuclear factor-\u03baB (RANK) levels, and runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) expression. KH supplementation improved bone health by dose-dependently enhancing antioxidant defences, significantly increasing GPx and SOD activities, while catalase (CAT) activity was elevated at 600 mg\/kg. The 400 mg\/kg dose improved trabecular microarchitecture by increasing trabecular number, connectivity density and cortical area\/total tissue area. KH also improved biomechanical properties, increasing load, stress, stiffness, and Young\u2019s modulus while reducing displacement. Furthermore, KH attenuated HCHF-induced increases in Runx2 mRNA and RUNX2 protein and reduced osterix (Sp7), integrin Subunit Alpha 5 (Itga5), and calcitonin receptor (Calcr) mRNA expression. However, serum CTX-1 remained elevated in all KH-treated groups. (4) Conclusions: Overall, the findings suggest that KH may have potential as a natural intervention for mitigating diet-associated skeletal alterations, although further studies are required to clarify the underlying mechanisms.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/life16091419","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]],"date-time":"2026-08-26T16:54:42Z","timestamp":1787763282000},"page":"1419","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Kelulut Honey Modulates Skeletal Health and Bone-Related Molecular Markers in Rats Fed a High-Carbohydrate and High-Fat Diet"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Sophia Ogechi","family":"Ekeuku","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kumeshini","family":"Sukalingam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3458-0440","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mohd Fahami","family":"Nur Azlina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2452-6459","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fairus","family":"Ahmad","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6628-1552","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kok-Yong","family":"Chin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elvy Suhana","family":"Mohd Ramli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e657","DOI":"10.1002\/mco2.657","article-title":"Regulation of Bone Homeostasis: Signaling Pathways and Therapeutic Targets","volume":"5","author":"Wu","year":"2024","journal-title":"MedComm"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1185","DOI":"10.4314\/tjpr.v20i6.13","article-title":"Effect of Kelulut Honey Supplementation on Bone Health in Male Rats on High-Carbohydrate High-Fat Diet","volume":"20","author":"Ekeuku","year":"2021","journal-title":"Trop. 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