Bee Venom and Its Sub-components as Medicine: What’s New?

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Venoms".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 3850

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Physiology, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02453, Republic of Korea
Interests: chemotherapy-induced side effects; neuropathic pain; anorexia; bee venom; herbal medicine
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Bee venom has been reported to be efficient against various diseases, including cancer, neuropathic pain, progressive muscle atrophy, and idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. However, more well-designed and high-quality research is required to clearly understand its effect and underlying mechanisms of action.

Thus, this Special Issue of Toxins is devoted to, firstly, discovering novel diseases that could be attenuated by bee venom and its sub-components (i.e., apamin, melittin, phospholipase A2, etc.), and, secondly, to understand their underlying mechanisms of action. We welcome all research that is focused on the characterization, pharmacology, and therapeutics of bee venom and its sub-components. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: bee venom; cancers; pain, including neuropathic pain, immune modulation, and action on the central and peripheral nervous system; and various receptors and ion channels.

Prof. Dr. Woojin Kim
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • bee venom
  • cancer
  • melittin
  • neuropathic pain
  • immune modulation
  • phospholipase A2

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 1457 KiB  
Article
Long-Term Administration of Vespa velutina nigrithorax Venom Ameliorates Alzheimer’s Phenotypes in 5xFAD Transgenic Mice
by Yoon Ah Jeong, Hyun Seok Yun, Yoonsu Kim, Chan Ho Jang, Ji Sun Lim, Hyo Jung Kim, Moon Bo Choi, Jae Woo Jung, Jisun Oh and Jong-Sang Kim
Toxins 2023, 15(3), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15030203 - 6 Mar 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1738
Abstract
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by progressive and irreversible impairment of cognitive functions. However, its etiology is poorly understood, and therapeutic interventions are limited. Our preliminary study revealed that wasp venom (WV) from Vespa velutina nigrithorax can prevent lipopolysaccharide-induced [...] Read more.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, is characterized by progressive and irreversible impairment of cognitive functions. However, its etiology is poorly understood, and therapeutic interventions are limited. Our preliminary study revealed that wasp venom (WV) from Vespa velutina nigrithorax can prevent lipopolysaccharide-induced inflammatory signaling, which is strongly implicated in AD pathogenesis. Therefore, we examined whether WV administration can ameliorate major AD phenotypes in the 5xFAD transgenic mouse model. Adult 5xFAD transgenic mice (6.5 months of age) were treated with WV by intraperitoneal injection at 250 or 400 μg/kg body weight once weekly for 14 consecutive weeks. This administration regimen improved procedural, spatial, and working memory deficits as assessed by the passive avoidance, Morris water maze, and Y-maze tasks, respectively. It also attenuated histological damage and amyloid-beta plaque formation in the hippocampal region and decreased expression levels of pro-inflammatory factors in the hippocampus and cerebrum, while it reduced oxidative stress markers (malondialdehyde in the brain and liver and 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine in the plasma). Overall, these findings suggest that long-term administration of WV may alleviate AD-related symptoms and pathological phenotypes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bee Venom and Its Sub-components as Medicine: What’s New?)
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15 pages, 448 KiB  
Article
Investigation of the Adverse Events Associated with Bee Venom Pharmacopuncture in Patients Hospitalized in a Korean Hospital: A Retrospective Chart Review Study
by In-Hu Bae, Woo-Sang Jung, Seungwon Kwon, Han-Gyul Lee, Seung-Yeon Cho, Seong-Uk Park, Sang-Kwan Moon, Jung-Mi Park, Chang-Nam Ko and Ki-Ho Cho
Toxins 2022, 14(10), 662; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins14100662 - 23 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1624
Abstract
In bee venom pharmacopuncture (BVP), bee venom isolated from the venom sac of bees is injected into the acupoint or muscle associated with a disease. However, the histamine component in bee venom can cause adverse events; therefore, attention is required for BVP use. [...] Read more.
In bee venom pharmacopuncture (BVP), bee venom isolated from the venom sac of bees is injected into the acupoint or muscle associated with a disease. However, the histamine component in bee venom can cause adverse events; therefore, attention is required for BVP use. This study investigated the frequency, severity and characteristics of patients developing BVP-associated adverse events. The medical records of patients treated with BVP at Kyung Hee University Korean Medicine Hospital between 1 January 2013 and 1 May 2021 were reviewed. The demographic characteristics, disease-related characteristics, treatment-related characteristics and impressions of each patient were analyzed. In this study, >50% of 4821 inpatients were hospitalized for neurological disorders. The mean age of the overall study population was 54.62 ± 16.38 years and 61% were women. The frequency of adverse events was 2.32%. The mean age in the adverse events group was 58.20 ± 16.10 years and 76% were women. Two patients experienced moderate adverse events, with no commonality between these events. Every patient recovered naturally with no sequelae. The results showed that BVP is a relatively safe therapeutic method. However, further studies are needed to determine the frequency of adverse events and identify the causality between baseline characteristics and adverse events. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Bee Venom and Its Sub-components as Medicine: What’s New?)
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