Anti-Inflammatory, Antioxidant and Anti-genotoxic Effects of Different Doses of Bee Venom on Adjuvant Induce Arthritis in Rats

Abstract

Objective: We investigated anti- inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-genotoxic effects of bee venom (BV) on adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Design and Methods: Thirty-five rats were equally divided into control and four adjuvant treatment groups. Freud adjuvant (FA) was given 0.2 mL intradermally and waited for 15 days to form arthritis. Control group received only 0.9% NaCl subcutaneously at the same time and at equal volume. One of arthritis groups didn’t receive any other therapy, the other three arthritis groups received low, moderate and high doses of BV (0.2, 1 and 5 mg/ 0.2 mL, respectively) for 3 consecutive weeks. After the treatment, rats were sacrified and biochemical examinations were performed. Results: Low doses of BV treatment decreased the levels of adjuvant-induced pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1b, IL-6 and TNF-a, oxidative stress index and leukocyte DNA damage in rats. However, moderate and high doses of BV didn’t ameliorate the inflammation markers, oxidative stress and DNA damage of adjuvant-induce arthritis. Conclusion: From this study, it is concluded that BV ameliorate adjuvant-inducing arthritis by enhancing the antioxidant defense, and attenuating inflammation and DNA damage in rats. However, administrated dose of BV is very important. Key words: Oxidative stress, bee venom, DNA damage