Fractionation of Apis mellifera venom by means of ultrafiltration: removal of phospholipase A 2

Abstract

-The fractionation of apitoxin (bee venom) by means of a commercial 10 kDa ultrafiltration membrane was investigated aiming at the removal of phospholipase A 2 , the main allergenic substance. The feed content was varied from 1 to 50 g apitoxin/L, in deionized water, and caused changes in membrane flux and rejection, due to concentration polarization. The increase in pressure difference and stirring rate improved the flux through the membrane. The best result was achieved for 1 g apitoxin/L in feed stream, with a pressure difference of 220 kPa, and 750 rpm, with a permeate flux of 103 kg/m 2 h. The use of ultrafiltration was efficient to improve the permeate safety since biological tests revealed that the remaining enzyme lost its ability to catalyze the hydrolysis of phospholipids.

An overview of the bioactive compounds, therapeutic properties and toxic effects of apitoxin

“…In the last decade, as result of increasing investigation worldwide, the usefulness of BV has been reported for several diseases and pathologic contexts (Table 2), in studies performed in vitro and in vivo, in animal models or enrolling humans. Among other settings, the effects of BV were demonstrated in multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease (Ostrovsky and Ehrlich, 2018), dementia (Silva et al, 2015), atherosclerosis (Lee and Bae, 2016), osteoarthritis (Lee et al, 2012), human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (Jallouk et al, 2014), periodontitis (Gu et al, 2019), Diabetes mellitus (Hossen et al, 2017) and rheumatoid arthritis (Son et al, 2007;Brito et al, 2018). The effects of BV and its isolated bioactive compounds have also been described in several types of solid cancer like breast, ovarian, bladder, lung, liver and prostate, as well as on hematologic malignancies (Moga et al, 2018).…”

“…In order to ensure patients' safety and to take advantage of the potentialities of BV while reducing the side effects, some researchers suggest the removal of the allergens PLA 2 , hyaluronidase, acid phosphomonoesterase and apamin (Brito et al, 2018). In that context, Lee et al (2018) developed an effective strategy for MLT purification from BV which also effectively removed PLA 2 and apamin.…”

“…Also, Park et al (2013) found that the use of 50% ethanol aqueous solution for the purification and analysis of BV, the content of apamin and other allergens was significantly decreased, yet MLT was kept stable. In addition, Lee et al (2015c) and Brito et al (2018), by means of ultrafiltration using 10 kDa molecular weight cut-off filters, made it possible to effectively remove PLA 2 .…”

Melittin recovery with efficient phospholipase A2 removal of apitoxin from cross‐flow ultrafiltration process

“…Chromatographic and electrophoretic techniques have been widely used to separate components from apitoxin 9–12 . Furthermore, a recent and efficient method is the ultrafiltration process (UF) with a membrane 13–15 . In UF, a chemical additive is not necessary, low temperatures can be used, and in many cases, the driving force required is only the pressure difference 16,17 .…”

“…The cross‐flow arrangement can reduce the deposition of particles in the membrane surface due to the increase of shear stress in the laminar region 29 . The transmembrane pressure and permeate flux are operational conditions that directly influence the rejection and recovery values, 31 along with the solute concentration and membrane material when working with biological macromolecules, such as peptides and enzymes 15,32,33 …”