To bee or not to bee: The potential efficacy and safety of bee venom acupuncture in humans

Cherniack, E. Paul; Govorushko, Sergey

doi:10.1016/j.toxicon.2018.09.013

Cited by 57 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…BVA is a traditional pharmacopuncture method in Korea, and its pain relief efficacy is generally utilized for an array of musculoskeletal diseases (e.g., shingles, gout, and arthritis) [ 9 , 27 , 28 ]. A clinical case report has shown that a one-week treatment of BVA can improve the pain level as assessed by both the World Health Organization (WHO) CIPN grade and visual analog scale (VAS) [ 10 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Lasting and Additive Analgesic Effects of Combined Treatment of Bee Venom Acupuncture and Venlafaxine on Paclitaxel-Induced Allodynia in Mice

Yoo

Kim

2020

Toxins

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Paclitaxel, a primary chemotherapeutic agent used to treat numerous solid malignancies, is commonly associated with debilitating peripheral neuropathy. However, a satisfactory gold-standard monotherapy for this neuropathic pain is not currently available. A combination strategy of two or more medications with different properties may achieve more beneficial effects than monotherapy. Thus, we investigated the analgesic efficacies and spinal mechanisms of the combination strategy, including bee venom acupuncture (BVA) and venlafaxine (VLX) against paclitaxel-induced allodynia in mice. Four intraperitoneal infusions of paclitaxel on alternating days (2 mg/kg/day) induced cold and mechanical allodynia for at least 1 week as assessed using acetone and the von Frey hair test, respectively. Co-treatment of BVA (1.0 mg/kg, s.c., ST36) with VLX (40 mg/kg, i.p.) at the medium dose produced a longer-lasting and additive effect than each monotherapy at the highest dose (BVA, 2.5 mg/kg; VLX, 60 mg/kg). Spinal pre-administration of idazoxan (α2-adrenergic receptor antagonist, 10 μg), methysergide (mixed 5-HT1/5-HT2 receptor antagonist, 10 μg), or MDL-72222 (5-HT3 receptor antagonist, 10 μg) abolished this analgesia. These results suggest that the combination therapy with BVA and VLX produces long-lasting and additive analgesic effects on paclitaxel-induced allodynia, via the spinal noradrenergic and serotonergic mechanism, providing a promising clinical strategy.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Long-Lasting and Additive Analgesic Effects of Combined Treatment of Bee Venom Acupuncture and Venlafaxine on Paclitaxel-Induced Allodynia in Mice

Yoo

Kim

2020

Toxins

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…BV is a complex substance with approximately 18 bioactive components, including phospholipase A2, histamine, norepinephrine, apamin and melittin (its principal component, representing 40%-60% of the BV total dry extract) [9,10] . The BV therapy (systemic administration of BV at doses generally between 0.1 and 0.5 mg/kg) has anti-nociceptive, anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effect [9][10][11] . Although several mechanisms of action have been implicated in the therapeutic effects of melittin or the other components of BV, e.g., the anti-arthritis effect of BV has been related to decrease in COX-2 and PLA2 expression and the decrease in the levels of TNF-α, IL-1, IL-6, NO, and ROS [9] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When BV is applied in acupoints, it promotes intensification of its effects and more intense and lasting acupoint stimulation effects [12,13] , which contribute to the clinical improvement of many diseases [9] . BV apipuncture has been used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis [14] and to promote pain relief in patients with chronic low back pain [10,15] . Besides, it can also be applied as a complementary therapy to treat PD and ALS in humans [10,11,16] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…BV apipuncture has been used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis [14] and to promote pain relief in patients with chronic low back pain [10,15] . Besides, it can also be applied as a complementary therapy to treat PD and ALS in humans [10,11,16] . Unfortunately, the mechanisms involved in the improvement of nervous system disorders are still poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Bee venom acupuncture reduces neuroinflammation modulating microglia/macrophage phenotype polarization in spinal cord injury compression model

Souza¹,

Lopes²,

Monteiro³

et al. 2019

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Aim: The present study aimed to examine whether apipuncture (stimulation of acupuncture points with bee venom) at ST36 and GV3 acupoints promotes neuroprotection and reduces neuroinflammation by modulating M1 and M2 phenotype polarization. Methods: Wistar rats were treated with bee venom (BV) (0.08 mg/kg) injection at acupoints ST36 and GV3 [BV (ST36 + GV3)-spinal cord injury (SCI)] or BV injection at non-acupoints [BV (NP)-SCI] or no treatment (CTL-SCI) after SCI by compression. The spinal cord mRNA expression of iNOS, Arg-1 and TGF-β was measured by real time PCR and the levels of IBA-1; BCL-2; NeuN e CNPase was measured by western blotting. Locomotor performance was measured by Basso, Beattie, and Bresnahan (BBB) and grid-walking tests. Results: Apipuncture treatment was able to (1) ameliorate locomotor performance; (2) reduce inflammatory markers (Cox-2 levels) and activation of microglia and macrophages; (3) reduce the polarization of the M1 phenotype marker (iNOS) and increase M2 (Arg-1 and TGF-β) phenotypic markers; (4) promote neuroprotection by reducing the death of neurons and oligodendrocytes; and (5) increase the expression of the anti-apoptotic factor BCL-2. Conclusion: Apipuncture treatment induces locomotor recovery and neuroprotection after the compression model of spinal cord injury. Further, it reduces neuroinflammation by decreasing M1 polarization and increasing M2 phenotype.

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Medicinal Benefits of Bee Venom

Sekar¹,

Lum²,

Bonam³

et al. 2023

Honey

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To bee or not to bee: The potential efficacy and safety of bee venom acupuncture in humans

Cited by 57 publications

References 55 publications

Long-Lasting and Additive Analgesic Effects of Combined Treatment of Bee Venom Acupuncture and Venlafaxine on Paclitaxel-Induced Allodynia in Mice

Long-Lasting and Additive Analgesic Effects of Combined Treatment of Bee Venom Acupuncture and Venlafaxine on Paclitaxel-Induced Allodynia in Mice

Bee venom acupuncture reduces neuroinflammation modulating microglia/macrophage phenotype polarization in spinal cord injury compression model

Medicinal Benefits of Bee Venom

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