Bee venom inhibits superoxide production by human neutrophils

Abstract

Investigation of the antiinflammatory properties of bee venom demonstrates that it inhibits production of superoxide anion by human neutrophils in a potent, selective, nontoxic, dose-dependent fashion, both pre- and poststimulation by particulate and soluble activators of the neutrophil oxidative metabolism burst. The effect is not due to receptor competition, superoxide dismutase, and/or catalase activity, scavenging, or indicator media effects. These findings may explain the antiinflammatory effects of whole bee venom in experimental systems, its widespread use in folk medicine, and lead to the development of potent, new antiinflammatory substances for therapeutic use in man.

Effects of bee venom on the pro-inflammatory responses in RAW264.7 macrophage cell line

“…However, the major anti-inflammatory molecule has not yet been elucidated. In addition, our results could not rule out a potential scavenger activity of some of the BV compounds, although it has been reported that whole BV and mellitin by inhibiting superoxide production have anti-inflammatory effects that are not due to toxic or scavenging effects (Somerfield et al, 1984(Somerfield et al, , 1986. Therefore, further studies are needed to identify the major components of BV that are responsible for the antiinflammatory effects.…”

The Antifungal Activity of Bee Venom against Dermatophytes

“…venom included phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, acid phosphomonoesterase, α-D-glucosidase, and lysophospholipase (Somerfield et al, 1984;Banks and Shipolini, 1986). Among them, melittin, a water-soluble cationic amphipathic 26 amino acid α-helical peptide, is a very nonspecific cytolytic peptide that attacks all lipid membranes leading to significant toxicity (Pan et al, 2011).…”

“…The antibacterial properties of bee venom as a natural antibacterial agent have been extensively studied, and bee venom therapy has been suggested to be used as an alternative to antibiotic therapy (Fennell et al, 1968;Somerfield et al, 1984;Saini et al, 1997). A strong antibacterial activity of bee venom against both Gramnegative and Gram positive bacteria had been reported (Stocker and Traynor, 1986;Perumal Samy et al, 2007).…”

Effect of honey bee venom on microglial cells nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-α production stimulated by LPS

“…Honey bee venom contains several peptides including melittin, apamin, adolapin, mast cell degranulating peptide, enzymes, biologically activity amines, and non-peptide components (Lariviere and Melzack, 1996;Kwon et al, 2002). Enzymes are composed of phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, acid phosphomonoesterase, ␣-d-glucosidase, and lysophospholipase (Banks and Shipolini, 1986;Somerfield et al, 1984). Each honey bee venom substance has been studied to elucidate their anti-inflammatory effects (Somerfield et al, 1984;Saini et al, 1997).…”

“…Enzymes are composed of phospholipase A2, hyaluronidase, acid phosphomonoesterase, ␣-d-glucosidase, and lysophospholipase (Banks and Shipolini, 1986;Somerfield et al, 1984). Each honey bee venom substance has been studied to elucidate their anti-inflammatory effects (Somerfield et al, 1984;Saini et al, 1997). Honey bee venom was proven to have anti-inflammatory properties by inhibiting iNOS and COX-e expression possibly through the suppression of NF-B and MARK activities (Jang et al, 2005).…”