Abstract
The current study aimed to characterize a novel bee venom –loaded polyacrylic acid carrier intended for cancer therapy. Honey bee venom was collected by the electric shock method. Poly acrylic acid and venom-loaded polyacrylic acid were prepared using potassium peroxodisulfate as an initiator. Nanoformulation was achieved by emulsion-solvent diffusion. Characterization was achieved by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, TEM, DFED, and UV spectrophotometry. TEM showed that the resultant spherical nanoparticles were either dispersed or in a nodular form and their diameter was 17-210 nm. DFED showed that the resultant nanoparticles did not show crystalline edges. FTIR and 1H-NMR concluded that there was no marked interaction between drug and selected polymer except in the physical encapsulation process. UV spectrophotometry indicated a 95% uniformity of drug content in the resultant nanoparticles. The study concluded that the PAA carrier may be a promising suitable carrier for bee venom.
Highlights
Bee venom is a unique weapon in the animal kingdom
Determination of Surface Chemistry: Transmission electron microscopy (TEM; Figs. 1-4) analysis of venom-loaded poly acrylic acid (VLPAA) showed that the resultant nanoparticles were present in either a dispersed form or in an aggregated nodular form, this can be related to different levels of polymer concentration after the polymerization process, and can be attributed to the swelling state of the Polyacrylic acid (PAA) hydrogel
Dark field electron diffraction (DFED; Fig. 5) showed no well-defined crystalline edges were evident in VLPAA sample, resembling parent bare polymer while the bee venom showed well known crystalline edges indicating its poly-crystalline nature
Summary
Bee venom is a unique weapon in the animal kingdom. It is an efficient and complex mixture of substances designed to protect bees against a broad diversity of predators from other arthropods to vertebrates. It contains several biologically active peptides, including melittin, apamin, adolapin, mast cell degranulating peptide, and enzymes (phospholipase A2, and hyaluronidase) as well as non-peptide components, such as histamine, dopamine, and norepinephrine (Habermann, 1972; Raghuraman, and Chattopadhyay, 2007). Recent studies reported several effects of bee venom such as induction of apoptosis and necrosis and effects on proliferation, cytotoxicity, and growth inhibition of different types of cancer cells (Liu et al, 2002; Han et al, 2007; Orsolic, 2012).
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