In vivo evaluation of pharmacological properties of Argentine stingless bee geopropolis

Abstract

Background: Propolis is a natural product that has been widely utilized as medicine and dietary supplement because of its broad biological activities. However, although meliponide hive products have many advantages, meliponiculture has not yet become popular in Argentina, and few scientific studies on its chemical composition and/or its bioactive properties were reported, so the use of stingless bee propolis Argentine in popular medicine continues to be based on empirical knowledge. Our work aims to evaluate in vivo anti-inflammatory, antitussive and expectorant activities, and acute toxicity of the Argentine geopropolis ethanol extracts of two stingless bee's species, Scaptotrigona jujuyensis Schrottky and Tetragonisca fiebrigi Schwarz. Wistar male rats were used for all in vivo studies. Anti-inflammatory activities were evaluated through carrageenan-induced edema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation. Antitussive activity was assessed against ammonia-induced cough. Expectorant activity was measured by volume of phenol red in the rats' tracheas. The extract doses tested were 125, 250, 500, and 1000 mg/kg (p.o.). The safety was evaluated with test of acute toxicity (48 h). Results: The results showed that S. jujuyensis and T. fiebrigi propolis (1000 mg/kg) significantly reduced the carrageenaninduced edema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation 3 h post-dosing. In the ammonia liquor-induced cough, both propolis significantly enhanced the latent period and reduced cough frequency as compared with those of the negative control. However, they did not increase the expulsion of red phenol in the treated rats. Conclusions: This study shows that ethanol extracts of S. jujuyensis and T. fiebrigi propolis have anti-inflammatory and antitussive effects. These findings would justify the use of geopropolis in medicine as a potential phytotherapeutic product.

A review of stingless bees' bioactivity in different parts of the world

“…The research was conducted on rats given propolis extracts, which also effectively suppress the cough brought on by ammonia. Furthermore, there was no evidence of acute toxicity at dosages ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 mg/kg of body weight [ 54 – 56 ]. This highlighted that propolis from M. subnitida is one of the major potential products to be utilized in future treatments.…”

Chemical Profile and Biological Potential of Scaptotrigona Bee Products (Hymenoptera, Apidae, Meliponini): An Review

“…[15] Currently, products derived from species of the genus Scaptotrigona are an unexplored source of potential therapeutic compounds, despite evidence that some of them are widely used in traditional medicine and have several records in the literature that confirm their bioactivities. [18][19][20] Furthermore, in the literature, there is still no comprehensive review of the bioactivities and chemical composition associated with species of this genus of stingless bees.…”

In Vivo Toxicity Study on The Effects of Aqueous Propolis Extract From Malaysian Stingless Bee (Geniotrigona thoracica) in Mice

“…The health-promoting capabilities of propolis depend mainly on the constituent of phenolic compounds and their composition. In the last decade, studies have investigated the biological activities of propolis, a variety found in Argentina, Iranian, Morocco, Indonesia, Chinese, and Malaysia (Isla et al, 2001;Mohammadzadeh et al, 2007;Mountassir et al, 2014;Sabir & Sumidarti, 2017;Sun et al, 2018;Nna et al, 2018Nna et al, , 2021Fikri et al, 2019;Brodkiewicz et al, 2020). Studies have attributed some jms.mabjournal.com Muhamad Suhaini et al, 2023 Malaysian Applied Biology pharmacological properties to the complex phenolic compounds in propolis.…”

“…Since propolis is used as a natural nutraceutical for various human health conditions, its biosafety must be ascertained through acute toxicity testing. Recently, an acute toxicity test performed by Brodkiewicz et al (2020) reported that oral administration of ethanol extracts of propolis at 2000 mg/kg and 5000 mg/kg doses did not cause any adverse effects and consider a safe amount for a short period of 48 hr and a prolonged period of 14 days.…”