Abstract
Bee venom (BV) or apitoxin is a complex mixture of substances with reported biological activity. In the present work, five bee venom samples obtained from Apis mellifera iberiensis from the Northeast Portugal (two different apiaries) were chemically characterized and evaluated for their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties. The LC/DAD/ESI-MSn analysis of the samples showed that melittin was the most abundant compound, followed by phospholipase A2 and apamin. All the samples revealed antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity but without a direct relation with any of the individual chemical components identified. The results highlight that there are specific concentrations (present in BV5) in which these compounds are more active. The BV samples showed similar cytotoxicity for all the tested tumour cell lines (MCF-7, NCI-H460, HeLa and HepG2), being MCF-7 and HeLa the most susceptible ones. Nevertheless, the studied samples seem to be suitable to treat breast, hepatocellular and cervical carcinoma because at the active concentrations, the samples were not toxic for non-tumour cells (PLP2). Regarding the non-small cell lung carcinoma, BV should be used under the toxic concentration for non-tumour cells. Overall, the present study corroborates the enormous bioactive potential of BV being the first report on samples from Portugal.
Highlights
Bee venom (BV) or apitoxin, produced in the venom gland of the bee (Apis mellifera), located in the abdominal cavity, is a complex mixture of substances with reported biological activity (Liu et al, 2002; Oršolić, 2009; Oršolić, 2012)
Melittin was the most abundant compound in all the samples, while apamin was the component at the lowest concentration (Table 1, Fig. 1)
BV2 gave the highest levels of mellitin (86.72 ± 0.50 μg/mL), phospholipase A2 (11.36 ± 0.18 μg/mL) and apamin (1.80 ± 0.03 μg/mL), followed by BV4
Summary
Bee venom (BV) or apitoxin, produced in the venom gland of the bee (Apis mellifera), located in the abdominal cavity, is a complex mixture of substances with reported biological activity (Liu et al, 2002; Oršolić, 2009; Oršolić, 2012). The active compounds of the BV have been described as proteins and peptides (melittin (MEL), apamin (APA), adolapin, the mast cell degranulating peptide, secapin, procamine, protease inhibitor, tertiapin and other small peptides), enzymes (phospholipase A2 (PLA2), hyaluronidase, acid phosphomonoesterase, lysophopholipase and αglucosidase), as well as non-peptide components, such as physiologically active amines (histamine, dopamine and noradrenalin), amino acids (aminobutyric acid and α-amino acids), sugars (glucose and fructose), phospholipids and volatile compounds (Park et al, 2010; Gajski and Garaj-Vrhovac, 2013; Liu et al, 2014). Five bee venom samples obtained from Apis mellifera iberiensis from the Northeast Portugal were chemically characterized and evaluated for their antioxidant, antiinflammatory and cytotoxic properties
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
