Topic
Apitoxin
About: Apitoxin is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 100 publications have been published within this topic receiving 1395 citations. The topic is also known as: bee venom & bee venoms.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
TL;DR: The aim of this review is to summarize the main compounds of bee venom, their primary biological properties, mechanisms of action, and their therapeutic values in alternative therapy strategies.
Abstract: Apitherapy is an alternate therapy that relies on the usage of honeybee products, most importantly bee venom for the treatment of many human diseases. The venom can be introduced into the human body by manual injection or by direct bee stings. Bee venom contains several active molecules such as peptides and enzymes that have advantageous potential in treating inflammation and central nervous system diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Moreover, bee venom has shown promising benefits against different types of cancer as well as anti-viral activity, even against the challenging human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Many studies described biological activities of bee venom components and launched preclinical trials to improve the potential use of apitoxin and its constituents as the next generation of drugs. The aim of this review is to summarize the main compounds of bee venom, their primary biological properties, mechanisms of action, and their therapeutic values in alternative therapy strategies.
280 citations
TL;DR: It could be shown that melittin stimulates the enzymatic hydrolysis of egg lecithin up to about 5-fold, while similar effects could not be observed with dipalmitoyllecithIn, and additional peptides known to interact with membranes are tested.
134 citations
TL;DR: The BV samples showed similar cytotoxicity for all the tested tumour cell lines, being MCF-7, NCI-H460, HeLa and HepG2 the most susceptible ones, and seem to be suitable to treat breast, hepatocellular and cervical carcinoma.
118 citations
TL;DR: Considering that tooth decay affects people's health, apitoxin and its component melittin have potential application against oral pathogens.
Abstract: In this work, we used the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) technique to evaluate the antibacterial potential of the apitoxin produced by Apis mellifera bees against the causative agents of tooth decay. Apitoxin was assayed in natura and in the commercially available form. The antibacterial actions of the main components of this apitoxin, phospholipase A2, and melittin were also assessed, alone and in combination. The following bacteria were tested: Streptococcus salivarius, S. sobrinus, S. mutans, S. mitis, S. sanguinis, Lactobacillus casei, and Enterococcus faecalis. The MIC results obtained for the commercially available apitoxin and for the apitoxin in natura were close and lay between 20 and 40 µg / mL, which indicated good antibacterial activity. Melittin was the most active component in apitoxin; it displayed very promising MIC values, from 4 to 40 µg / mL. Phospholipase A2 presented MIC values higher than 400 µg / mL. Association of mellitin with phospholipase A2 yielded MIC values ranging between 6 and 80 µg / mL. Considering that tooth decay affects people's health, apitoxin and its component melittin have potential application against oral pathogens.
95 citations
TL;DR: The observed unspecific cytotoxicity of melittin that strongly restricts its therapeutic use is discussed and interesting possibilities of a beneficial use by selectively targetingmelittin to cancer cells are reviewed.
Abstract: Natural products represent important sources for the discovery and design of novel drugs. Bee venom and its isolated components have been intensively studied with respect to their potential to counteract or ameliorate diverse human diseases. Despite extensive research and significant advances in recent years, multifactorial diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases remain major healthcare issues at present. Although pure bee venom, apitoxin, is mostly described to mediate anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and neuroprotective effects, its primary component melittin may represent an anticancer therapeutic. In this review, we approach the possibilities and limitations of apitoxin and its components in the treatment of these multifactorial diseases. We further discuss the observed unspecific cytotoxicity of melittin that strongly restricts its therapeutic use and review interesting possibilities of a beneficial use by selectively targeting melittin to cancer cells.
64 citations
Related Topics (5)
Performance Metrics
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2020 | 3 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2017 | 5 |
| 2016 | 8 |