Abstract
It is known that allergic people was potentially vulnerable to bee venom (BV), which can induce an anaphylactic shock, eventually leading to death. Up until recently, this kind of allergy was treated only by venom immunotherapy (VIT) and its efficacy has been recognized worldwide. This treatment is practiced by subcutaneous injections that gradually increase the doses of the allergen. This is inconvenient for patients due to frequent injections. Poly (D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) has been broadly studied as a carrier for drug delivery systems (DDS) of proteins and peptides. PLGA particles usually induce a sustained release. In this study, the physicochemical properties of BV were examined prior to the preparation of BV-loaded PLGA nanoparticles NPs). The content of melittin, the main component of BV, was 53.3%. When protected from the light BV was stable at 4 °C in distilled water, during 8 weeks. BV-loaded PLGA particles were prepared using dichloromethane as the most suitable organic solvent and two min of ultrasonic emulsification time. This study has characterized the physicochemical properties of BV for the preparation BV-loaded PLGA NPs in order to design and optimize a suitable sustained release system in the future.
Highlights
IntroductionBV is a protein complex consisting of melittin, phospholipase A2, apamin, and hyaluronidase
BV comes from the sting of honey bees that use it to protect the bee colony
Melittin was selected as a marker compound in BV, because it is known that melittin is the most abundant component among the complex of proteins and peptides that constitute BV
Summary
BV is a protein complex consisting of melittin, phospholipase A2, apamin, and hyaluronidase. Among these components, melittin (Figure 1), a 26 amino acid peptide with the following sequence: Gly-Ile-Gly-Ala-Val-Leu-Lys-ValLeu-Thr-Thr-Gly-Leu-Pro-Ala-Leu-Ile-Ser-Trp-Ile-Lys-Arg-Lys-Arg-Gln-Gin-NH2 is the principal component of BV [1]. The molecular weight of melittin is about 3 kD It has a high aqueous solubility, which has potential for use as a biologically active peptide drug. Direct stings using bees was a traditional treatment method for arthritis. It has many disadvantages such as the pain caused by the sting, difficulty for maintaining the regular blood concentration, the need for long-term administration of a series of stings or injections due to the short half-life of melittin, and the inconvenience to patients. The conventional regimen requires a course of administration three times a week over
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