Abstract
BackgroundPropolis is a well-known bee product containing more than 2000 identified compounds. It has many beneficial effects on human health that include antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer and hepatoprotective justifying its use as a dietary supplement. Platelet aggregation plays crucial role in thrombus formation that can cause stroke or heart attacks. As cardiovascular diseases, including those caused by thrombus formation, are related to 50% of deaths of Western population, the objective of this study was to determine antiaggregatory activity of propolis on platelet aggregation on the whole blood samples.MethodsTwenty one propolis samples from Southeast Europe were characterized by spectrophotometric methods to determine content of the total flavonoids and phenolic acids. High performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection was used to identify and quantify individual polyphenols. Platelet aggregation was tested by impedance aggregometry on the whole blood samples of ten healthy volunteers.ResultsThe mean content of total polyphenols was 136.14 mg/g and ranged from 59.23 to 277.39 mg/g. Content of total flavonoids ranged between 6.83 and 55.44 mg/g with the mean value of 19.28 mg/g. Percentage of total phenolic acids was in the range 8.79 to 45.67% (mean 26.63%). Minimal antiaggregatory concentration, representing the lowest concentration of propolis extract sample that can cause statistically significant reduction of aggregation, ranged from 5 μM to 10.4 mM. Samples of propolis with lower content of luteolin and higher content of pinocembrin-7-methyleter showed better antiplatelet activity i.e. lower values of minimal antiaggregatory concentration.ConclusionsThis is the first study that shows antiaggregatory potential of propolis ethanolic extracts on the whole blood samples in the low micromolar concentrations suggesting that propolis supplementation may influence platelet aggregation and consequently thrombus formation. Further in vivo studies are needed to confirm the beneficial effects in prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Highlights
Propolis is a well-known bee product containing more than 2000 identified compounds
The objective of this work was to characterize propolis extracts by spectrophotometric and highperformance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods, and explore influence of propolis on platelet aggregation based on adenosine diphosphate (ADP) induced aggregation testing on the whole blood samples of healthy volunteers
Propolis is rich source of polyphenols commonly used as dietary supplement i.e. functional food
Summary
Propolis is a well-known bee product containing more than 2000 identified compounds It has many beneficial effects on human health that include antibacterial, antiviral, anticancer and hepatoprotective justifying its use as a dietary supplement. Propolis is a well-known bee produced wax mixture containing more than 2000 identified compounds [1] It is collected from by honeybees (Apis mellifera L.) from plants, primarily from flowers and leaf buds [2]. Many in vitro and in vivo animal studies have shown antibacterial [4], antiviral [1], hepatoprotective [5], immunomodulatory [6], anticancer [7] and other biological effects of propolis These positive effects are primarily related to the content of flavonoids and phenolic acids [5]. Antitumoral activity against HeLa cell lines was related to the high concentrations of ferulic and p-coumaric acid, galangin and pinocembrin [8]
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