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Bee venom (BV) from honey bee (Apis Melifera L.) contains at least 18 pharmacologically active components including melittin (MLT), phospholipase A2 (PLA2), and apamin etc. BV is safe for human treatments dose dependently and proven to possess different healing properties including antibacterial and antiparasitidal properties. Nevertheless, antiviral properties of BV have not well investigated. Hence, we identified the potential antiviral properties of BV and its component against a broad panel of viruses. Co-incubation of non-cytotoxic amounts of BV and MLT, the main component of BV, significantly inhibited the replication of enveloped viruses such as Influenza A virus (PR8), Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV), Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), and Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV). Additionally, BV and MLT also inhibited the replication of non-enveloped viruses such as Enterovirus-71 (EV-71) and Coxsackie Virus (H3). Such antiviral properties were mainly explained by virucidal mechanism. Moreover, MLT protected mice which were challenged with lethal doses of pathogenic influenza A H1N1 viruses. Therefore, these results provides the evidence that BV and MLT could be a potential source as a promising antiviral agent, especially to develop as a broad spectrum antiviral agent.

The belief that honey bee venom (BV) can be used to treat certain immune-related diseases, such as arthritis and rheumatic conditions, goes back to antiquity. A growing number of reports have demonstrated that BV contains at least 18 pharmacologically active components, including phospholipase A2 (PLA2). Recent research has shown that bee venom PLA2 (bvPLA2) induces protective immune responses against several diseases including asthma, Parkinson’s disease, and drug-induced organ inflammation. However, the antiviral properties of bvPLA2 have not been well investigated. Hence, we examined the potential inhibitory effects of bvPLA2 and its possible mechanism of action against a broad panel of pathogenic viruses in vitro. Pre-treatment with bvPLA2 significantly inhibited the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), coxsackie virus (H3), enterovirus-71 (EV-71), herpes simplex virus (HSV) and Adenovirus (AdV) dramatically. However, bvPLA2 did not show antiviral activity against Influenza A virus (PR8) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV). Such inhibitory effects were explained by blocking of the attachment of the virus to cells upon bvPLA2 treatment. Additionally, we observed that Heparan sulfate (HS) has an inhibitory effect on the attachment of HSV to the cell surface dose dependently, which was inconsistent with bvPLA2 treatment. These findings suggest that bvPLA2 has an inhibitory effect on the replication of diverse viruses by blocking their attachment to the cell surface and could be a promising source of natural antiviral agents.

Bee venom (BV) has long been used in traditional Eastern and Western medicine for chronic inflammation, pain and skin therapy. Human exposure to BV, however, often causes unwanted adverse effects and is even fatal in some cases. Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) of BV is now suspected to play a key role in these adverse effects. We investigated the potential use of PLA2-free bee venom (PBV) as a replacement for BV in cosmetic products. PBV prepared by molecular weight cut-off ultrafiltration exhibits a superior profile in comparison with regular BV, by inhibiting elastase activity and suppressing the induction of nitric oxide (NO) and metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), while retaining the effects of cell proliferation and protection against ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced damage in human dermal fibroblast cells. PBV thus appears to be more promising than BV as a cosmetic ingredient with a reduced potential for adverse reactions in the recipient.

The use of bee venom (Apis mellifera L., BV) occasionally causes side effects such as inflammation and allergic reactions in the recipients. Several case reports also suggested the treatment of BV has some limitations in its clinical uses, due to the occurrence of dermal necrosis and anaphylatic reactions. It is generally understood that bee venom allergy is mainly the result of its allergic component, phospholipase A2 (PLA2). The present study was aimed to generate PLA2-free bee venom (PBV) and evaluate its efficacy as skin care and cosmetic preparation, comparing with original bee venom (BV). Our results showed that both BV and PBV exhibited significant protective effects in UVB-irradiated human keratinocyte (HaCaT) and human dermal fibroblast (HDF) cells and they also induced type I collagen synthesis in UVB-irradiated HDF cells except BV at 3 μg/ml. Furthermore, BV and PBV showed the inhibition of UVB-stimulated matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), a major collagen degrading enzyme in skin. However, BV, unlike PBV, exhibited strong cytotoxicities in skin cells (both HaCaT and HDF) at its working concentrations of anti-wrinkle effect. The underlying cell signaling mechanisms of anti-wrinkle effects of BV and PBV were demonstrated by the activation of ERK1/2, and p38. Conclusively, PBV appears to be the bee venom of choice with less cytotoxicity and higher efficacy on UVB-irradiated skin cells in comparison with original bee venom (BV). Therefore, PBV can better be used as a cosmetic ingredient exhibiting excellent anti-wrinkle effect against photoaging than original BV.

The effects of concentration, pressure, and molecular sige on removing allergenic substance (phospholipase A2) in bee venom by ultrafiltration were investigated. The membrane pore sizes were selected based on the molecular weight of the main compounds. The conditions of concentration and pressure were selected randomly. As results, we obtained the optimum condition (1 mg/mL, 20 psi, 10,000 dalton) for removing PLA2 at constant concentration of melittin and apamin and confirmed the separation results by HPLC and SDS-PAGE. 요 약: 한외여과법을 이용하여 봉독의 알러지 원인성분인 PLA2를 제거하기 위하여 압력, 농도, 분자크 기의 영향을 조사하였다. 봉독의 주요성분 분자량을 바탕으로 한외여과막의 투과크기를 선정하고 농도 와 압력을 달리하였다. 그 결과, melittin과 apamin 함량은 유지되면서 PLA2를 제거하는 최적조건(1 mg/mL, 20 psi, 10,000 dalton)을 찾았으며, 이를 HPLC와 SDS-PAGE로 확인하였다.

A bee venom is very useful and expensive medical resource. A bee venom collector has some difficulties and inconveniences because of its complex component. This is used normal battery as an electric power. However, using the solar cell of the bee venom collector reduces economic burden and guarantees high efficiency. We have performed comparative experiment between the bee venom collector to use battery and the one to use solar cell(polycrystalline silicon) by collecting the bee venom simultaneously. At the same electricity, the electric frequency(AC),312 Hz is more superior than 450Hz. This paper verified through the experiments that the bee venom collector to adopt solar cell is more effective than normal collector.

A dispersion strategy for dispersant-free BaMgAl10O17:Eu2+ (BAM) paste was investigated with functionalization of the ethyl cellulose (EC) binder. In order to enhance the affinity of EC for basic surface of BAM and the resulting steric repulsion at the solid–liquid interface, a portion of the hydroxyl groups in EC were substituted to the carboxylic acids via carboxylation of EC. From the analysis of adsorption isotherm, it was found that the carboxylated EC provided stronger affinity to the BAM surface than the conventional EC. Thus, the carboxylated EC generated higher steric stabilization at the solid–liquid interface, which led to a lower relative viscosity of the BAM paste in comparison to the conventional EC. Based on these results, it was determined that the dispersion stabilization of dispersant-free BAM paste was successfully improved through the functionalization of EC.