Pharmacological effects and mechanisms of bee venom and its main components: Recent progress and perspective

Abstract

Bee venom (BV), a type of defensive venom, has been confirmed to have favorable activities, such as anti-tumor, neuroprotective, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, anti-infectivity effects, etc. This study reviewed the recent progress on the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of BV and its main components against cancer, neurological disorders, inflammatory diseases, pain, microbial diseases, liver, kidney, lung and muscle injury, and other diseases in literature during the years 2018–2021. The related target proteins of BV and its main components against the diseases include Akt, mTOR, JNK, Wnt-5α, HIF-1α, NF-κB, JAK2, Nrf2, BDNF, Smad2/3, AMPK, and so on, which are referring to PI3K/Akt/mTOR, MAPK, Wnt/β-catenin, HIF-1α, NF-κB, JAK/STAT, Nrf2/HO-1, TrkB/CREB/BDNF, TGF-β/Smad2/3, and AMPK signaling pathways, etc. Further, with the reported targets, the potential effects and mechanisms on diseases were bioinformatically predicted via Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway, disease ontology semantic and enrichment (DOSE) and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses. This review provides new insights into the therapeutic effects and mechanisms of BV and its main components on diseases.

Paper microzone assay embedded on a 3D printed support for colorimetric quantification of proteins in different biological and food samples

“…Bee venom is attracting growing interest because of its potential medicinal properties that have been recognized since ancient times. 29 Interestingly, proteins are the main pharmacologically active ingredient in bee venom. Consistently, the determination of total protein content in bee venom represents the first step in its chemical characterization and in quality control analysis.…”

Immunomodulatory activities and biomedical applications of melittin and its recent advances

“…However, they also found that the cytolytic activity of the diastereomeric variants against host cells was greatly reduced, suggesting that different sequence-structure-function relationships exist for the various biological activities of MLT. [180,181] The region of MLT known as Mel (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26) has received particular attention due to its ability to form alpha-helical structures, which are thought to be important for its biological activity. Various analogs of Mel(12-26) have been synthesized and tested for their effects on membrane disruption and other activities.…”

“…Various analogs of Mel(12-26) have been synthesized and tested for their effects on membrane disruption and other activities. Individual substitution analogs refer to modifications made at specific amino acid residues within the sequence of Mel (12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26). These modifications may alter the peptide's ability to interact with membranes or other proteins, leading to changes in its biological effects.…”

“…[16] It is noteworthy to recognize that many of the known properties of bee venom are derived from MLT, a peptide comprising the main toxic constituent of bee venom, ∼40%-60% of the venom dry weight. [17] To date, a range of allergens have been found in honeybee (Apis mellifera), venom and the most famous ones are Api m 1 (phospholipase A2), Api m 2 (hyaluronidase), and Api m 4 (melittin). [18] MLT, with the molecular formula of C 131 H 229 N 39 O 31 , [19] is a 26-amino acid peptide (GIGAVLKVLTTGLPALISWIKRKRQQ), wherein 21 amino acids at the beginning of this peptide (N-terminal part) are mainly hydrophobic and has no disulfide bridges, [20] while its carboxylic terminal amino acids (amino acids [20][21][22][23][24][25][26] are hydrophilic with a positive charge.…”

1H‐NMR revealed pyruvate as a differentially abundant metabolite in the venom glands of Apis cerana and Apis mellifera

“…Due to the complex and diverse composition of bee venom, damage to target organs in humans can be exacerbated by the synergistic effects of some components after a bee sting, which can lead to disability or even death in severe cases (Shi et al, 2022b). Therefore, systematic and comprehensive analysis of the components of bee venom may be crucial for early and accurate protection of organ function (Zheng et al, 2023).…”