Honey and beehive products in otorhinolaryngology: a narrative review

Abstract

A total of 36 studies were identified and evaluated. Eighteen studies investigated their effect in oral infections, seven in infection of the respiratory tract, six in rhino-sinusal diseases, four investigated the use in tonsillectomy and head and neck surgery and one study explored the preventive effect in otitis media. Honey can be considered as effective (additional) treatment in mucositis, childhood cough, persistent post-infectious cough and after tonsillectomy. Propolis may have a role in the treatment of (aphthous) stomatitis, mouth ulcer and prevention of acute otitis media. Royal jelly showed to reduce mucositis. In the presented studies, beehive products proved to be safe, with only minor adverse reactions. Studies showed to be diverse and had some methodological limitations.

Biological Properties and Therapeutic Applications of Propolis

“…Propolis does not seem to have side effects after its administration to mice or to humans (Sforcin et al ., ; Sforcin et al ., ; Jasprica et al ., ; Henatsch et al ., ). No alterations were seen in enzyme activities (lactate dehydrogenase and aspartate aminotransferase) and lipid levels (cholesterol, high‐density lipoprotein‐cholesterol, triglycerides and total lipids) in the serum of propolis‐treated rats, independently of the solvent (water or ethanol) as compared with control group (Mani et al ., ).…”

“…Burdock () suggested that a safe concentration for humans could be 1.4 mg/kg a day, or approximately 70 mg/day. Propolis seemed to be safe, with only minor adverse reactions after treating (aphtous) stomatitis, mouth ulcer and prevention of acute otitis media (Henatsch et al ., ).…”

Current and Alternative Therapies for Nasal Mucosa Injury: A Review

“…Propolis is the material used by bees to build their hives. Synthesized by bees from plant resin, it has been demonstrated to have anti-inflammatory activity [57]. A study with rat models and nasal injury have revealed the reduction of inflammation and enhancement of healing of wounds of the nasal mucosa [58].…”

Evaluating Antioxidant Capacity of Different Propolis Samples from Konya, Turkey and Their Inhibitory Effect on Head and Neck Cancer Cells

“…Many researchers demonstrated propolis's ability to inhibit cancer progression by inducing apoptosis and cell-cycle arrest and reducing metastasis and invasion in both in vitro and in vivo studies (Watanebe et al 2011;Chan et al 2013;Frión-Herrera et al 2015;Patel et al 2016). Not exerting any major side effect in both mice and human subjects propolis administrated makes propolis a valuable potential anticancer agent (Sforcin et al 1995;Sforcin et al 2002;Jasprica et al 2007;Henatsch et al 2016). One main problem with use of propolis is lack of its standardization since propolis's constituents and dependently its biological activities can greatly vary based on the region and its extraction method (Dantas Silva et al 2017;Bankova 2005;Marcucci 1995).…”