Honey, pollen and propolis in therapeutic treatments for COVID-19

Abstract

The study aimed to characterize the therapeutic benefits of honey and other beehive products to determine the feasibility of rural beekeeping production; The research was carried out in 30 apiaries of peasant communities in 7 cantons of the province of Manabí, namely: Portoviejo, Rocafuerte, Bolívar, Santa Ana, Montecristi, Chone and Pichincha; an intentional sampling was applied, the qualitative-quantitative approach, a non-experimental descriptive design; For data collection, the survey technique was applied to beekeepers, the analytical method to perform the analysis of the results of the applied survey. As a result of the bibliographic review, multiple therapeutic benefits of honey, pollen, propolis, apitoxin, royal jelly were obtained, among which their immunomodulatory, antiviral, antimicrobial, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, healing properties, among others specific to each product, stand out. The feasibility of the rural beekeeping activity was determined through the cost-benefit analysis whose indicator of 1.95 showed that it is profitable. It was concluded that honey and other products from the hive contribute to preventing, strengthening, and improving the ability to respond to various diseases that afflict human beings, and as a productive activity, it is feasible to implement it to generate income for families.

New insights of propolis nanoformulation and its therapeutic potential in human diseases

“…Propolis is a bee product that is soft and sticky and has a distinctive odor [1]. Propolis and its extracts have the potential as promising natural therapeutic agents for degenerative diseases, such as diabetes [2][3][4], cancer [5][6][7], liver disease [8][9][10], cardiovascular disease [11,12], complications of bacterial [13,14] and viral infections [15,16]. The main chemicals in propolis are flavonoids, polyphenols and terpenes [17][18][19].…”

Apitherapy combination improvement of blood pressure, cardiovascular protection, and antioxidant and anti-inflammatory responses in dexamethasone model hypertensive rats

“…Thus, there is a growing interest in developing natural antihypertensive compounds to reduce blood pressure and its consequences 27 . According to Zambrano et al 28 , and Tanuğur Samancı and Kekeçoğlu 29 , using bee product combinations instead of conventional therapy may have favorable effects. Zambrano et al 28 has proven apitherapy combination efficacy in COVID-19.…”

“…According to Zambrano et al 28 , and Tanuğur Samancı and Kekeçoğlu 29 , using bee product combinations instead of conventional therapy may have favorable effects. Zambrano et al 28 has proven apitherapy combination efficacy in COVID-19. Also, Tanuğur Samancı and Kekeçoğlu 29 identified similar combination efficacy as a dermatological preparation.…”