Mechanisms of action underlying the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of propolis: a brief review

Abstract

Many biological properties have been attributed to various types of propolis, including anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antitumor, wound healing, and immunomodulatory activities. This article reviewed studies published that investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of propolis of different origins and/ or its isolated components, focusing on the mechanisms of action underlying this activity and also addressing some aspects of immunomodulatory effects. The search was performed of the following databases: PubMed, Science Direct, HighWire Press, Scielo, Google Academics, Research Gate and ISI Web of Knowledgement. The anti-inflammatory activity was associated with propolis or compounds such as polyphenols (flavonoids, phenolic acids and their esters), terpenoids, steroids and amino acids. CAPE is the most studied compounds. The main mechanisms underlying the anti-inflammatory activity of propolis included the inhibition of cyclooxygenase and consequent inhibition of prostaglandin biosynthesis, free radical scavenging, inhibition of nitric oxide synthesis, reduction in the concentration of inflammatory cytokines and immunosuppressive activity. Propolis was found to exert an antiinflammatory activity in vivo and in vitro models of acute and chronic inflammation and others studies, indicating its promising potential as anti-inflammatory agent of natural origin and as a source of chemical compounds for the development of new drugs.

Influência da própolis sobre os perfis leucocitário e proteico de camundongos e tempo de fechamento de feridas excisionais limpas e infectadas por Staphylococcus aureus.

“…Sua composição química é bastante variável e complexa, estando relacionado com a fitogeografia da região (Castro et al, 2007;Sousa et al, 2007;Buriol et al, 2009;Cabral et al, 2009). Estudos realizados em distintas espécies evidenciaram que a própolis possui diversas propriedades biológicas, como antifúngica, anti-tumoral, antibacteriana (Araújo et al, 2012;Mannani et al, 2012;Kuropatnicki et al, 2013), antiinflamatória (Moura et al, 2009), cicatrizante (Souza et al, 2009), antiulcerogênica (Barros et al, 2008), antiparasitária (Pontin et al, 2008) e antioxidante (Oldoni et al, 2011), imunoestimulatória (Sforcin et al, 2005, Missima & Sforcin, 2008.…”

Anti-inflammatory Effect of Trigona spp. Propolis in Restricting Edema Volume

“…11 Its flavonoid, especially CAPE (caffeic acid phenethyl ester) is known as an active compound in anti-inflammatory process which can inhibit production of cytokines IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, and TGF-β12 through NF-κB pathway.…”

“…In spite of the fact that anti-inflammatory effect of propolis has been discovered in many researches 11,14,15 , Propolis that has been intensely researched is that from bees species Apis mellifera, not propolis from the species Trigona spp. which are local bees from Asia, especially Indonesia 6 , that can produce more propolis than Apis mellifera.…”

Alternative method for measuring beeswax content in propolis from the Netherlands

“…Propolis has a long history in ancient folk medicine because it also shows activity against human pathogens. The therapeutic properties of propolis have been extensively reviewed (Ghisalberti, 1979;Marcucci, 1995;Banskota et al, 2001;Almeida and Menezes, 2002;Lofty, 2006;Ramos and Miranda, 2007;Sforcin, 2007;Libério et al, 2009;Fokt et al, 2010;Bognadov, 2011;Araujo et al, 2012). Chemically, propolis is a complex substance as it consists of numerous small and large molecular components (Ghisalberti, 1979;Markham et al, 1996;Burdock, 1998;Bankova et al, 2000;Bankova et al, 2002;Bankova, 2009).…”

“…These nets have a mesh width of 2 mm and are usually placed on top of the frames in the upper part of the beehive. For therapeutic use, the biological active ingredients, viz., flavonoids, aromatic esters, and acids are, because of their polarity, extracted from the propolis with a polar organic solvent, usually ethanol or an ethanol/water mixture (Ghisalberti, 1979;Marcucci, 1995;Banskota et al, 2001;Almeida and Menezes, 2002;Lofty, 2006;Ramos and Miranda, 2007;Sforcin, 2007;Libério et al, 2009;Fokt et al, 2010;Bogdanov, 2011;Araujo et al, 2012;Extracts NZ Ltd., 2012). However, the presence of substantial amounts of non-polar beeswax can easily lead to the formation of undesirable emulsions.…”