Effect of bee venom (Apis mellifera) on the phagocytosis of peritoneal macrophages and on the rise of life expectancy of Ehrlich tumor-bearing mice

Abstract

Bee venom contains a variety of peptides, including the melittin, the apamine, the adolapin and mast cell degranulation peptides. Studies have shown anti-inflammatory and antitumor actions of this venom. The purposes of this study were to evaluate the bee venom antitumor action in Ehrlich tumor-bearing mice and the phagocytosis of the peritoneal macrophages of mice treated with this venom. We did not observe any increase in the survival time of Ehrlich tumor-bearing mice treated with bee venom in the dose 0.7 and 1.0 mg/kg/day. However, we observed an increase in the macrophage phagocythosis treated with bee venom in the dose 0.7 to 1.0 mg/kg/day.In addition to the immunostimulant action, previous studies detected an apoptosis increase in the mice inoculated with experimental tumor and treated with bee venom. In the dose we used, we could observe only an increase in the macrophages phagocythosis. We have been considering the possibility of studying higher doses of the venom, pondering the benefits and the side effects, especially those to the central nervous system.