ABSTRACT
Apitherapy is an alternative medicine that treats a variety of human ailments by using honeybee products, most notably bee venom. Bee stings or hand injections are two ways venom might enter a human's body. Peptides and enzymes, among other active chemicals, found in bee venom have the potential to be very beneficial in treating inflammation and disorders of the central nervous system, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Furthermore, studies using bee venom have demonstrated encouraging results against many cancer forms and antiviral activities, including against the difficult human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This article aims to provide an overview of the principal components of bee venom, including its key biological features, modes of action, and therapeutic benefits when used in conjunction with alternative medicine approaches. Many research publications have suggested that bee venom, either directly from a bee sting or as an injectable, can be used to treat various difficulties either in vivo or in vitro. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the usage of bee venom, either whole or in fractions, as an alternative therapeutic strategy for a variety of illnesses and medication toxicities.
AUTHOR AFFILIATIONS
1 PG Department of Zoology, Khalsa College, Amritsar, Punjab, India
2 Department of Zoology, Baring College, Batala, Punjab, India
CITATION
Amin A, Singh JP and Singh R (2024) From Bee Venom to Drug: A Short Review. Environmental Science Archives 3(2): 124-130.
REFERENCES
Aarsland D, Creese B, Politis M, et al. (2017) Cognitive decline in Parkinson disease. Nature Reviews Neurology 13:217–231. doi: 10.1038/nrneurol.2017.27.
Akre RD and Reed HC (2009) Ants, Wasps and Bees: In the Textbook of Medical and Veterinary Entomology. 2nd ed. Academic Press; San Diego, CA, USA. 383–410.
Ali MAM (2012) Studies on bee venom and its medical uses. International Journal of Advancements in Research and Technology 1:1–15.
Alvarez-Fischer D, Noelker C, Vulinović F, et al. (2013) Bee venom and its component apamin as neuroprotective agents in a Parkinson disease mouse model. PLoS One 8(4):e61700. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061700.
Bachis A, Cruz MI and Mocchetti I (2010) M-tropic HIV envelope protein gp120 exhibits a different neuropathological profile than T-tropic gp120 in rat striatum. European Journal of Neuroscience 32(4):570-8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2010.07325.x.
Badawi JK (2021) Bee venom components as therapeutic tools against prostate cancer. Toxins 13:337. DOI: 10.3390/toxins13050337.
Baek H, Lee C, Choi DB, et al. (2018) Bee venom phospholipase A2 ameliorates Alzheimer’s disease pathology in Aβ vaccination treatment without inducing neuro-inflammation in a 3xTg-AD mouse model. Scientific Reports 8(1):17369. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-35030-1.
Bellik Y (2015) Bee Venom: Its potential use in alternative medicine. Anti-infective Agents 13:3–16. DOI: 10.2174/2211352513666150318234624.
Bogdanov S (2016) The Bee Venom Book. Bee Product Science; Bern, Switzerland. Biological and Therapeutic Properties of Bee Venom; pp. 1–23.
Boillée S, Yamanaka K, Lobsiger CS, et al. (2006) Onset and progression in inherited ALS determined by motor neurons and microglia. Science 312:1389–1392. DOI: 10.1126/science.1123511.
Cai MD, Choi SM and Yang EJ (2015) The effects of bee venom acupuncture on the central nervous system and muscle in an animal hSOD1G93A mutant. Toxins 7:846–858. DOI: 10.3390/toxins7030846.
Gajski G and Garaj-Vrhovac V (2013) Melittin: A lytic peptide with anticancer properties. Environmental Toxicology and Pharmacology 36:697–705. DOI: 10.1016/j.etap.2013.06.009.
Goldman JG, Williams-Gray C, Barker RA, et al. (2014) The spectrum of cognitive impairment in Lewy body diseases. Movement Disorders 29:217–231. doi: 10.1002/mds.25866.
Hong J, Lu X, Deng Z, et al (2019) How Melittin inserts into cell membrane: Conformational changes, inter-peptide cooperation, and disturbance on the membrane. Molecules 24:1775. DOI: 10.3390/molecules24091775.
Iakovakis D, Hadjidimitriou S, Charisis V, et al. (2018) Touchscreen typing-pattern analysis for detecting fine motor skills decline in early-stage Parkinson’s disease. Scientific Reports. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-25999-0.
Im EJ, Kim SJ, Hong SB, et al. (2016) Anti-inflammatory activity of bee venom in BV2 microglial cells: Mediation of MyD88-dependent NF-6B signaling pathway. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2016:3704764. DOI: 10.1155/2016/3704764.
Jaarsma D, Haasdijk ED, Grashorn JAC, et al. (2000) Human Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) overexpression in mice causes mitochondrial vacuolization, axonal degeneration, and premature motoneuron death and accelerates motoneuron disease in mice expressing a familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis mutant SOD1. Neurobiology of Disease 7:623–643. DOI: 10.1006/nbdi.2000.0299.
Khalil A, Elesawy BH, Ali TM and Ahmed OM (2021) Bee Venom: From Venom to Drug. Molecules 26(16): 4941.
Khalil WKB, Assaf N, ElShebiney SA and Salem NA (2015) Neuroprotective effects of bee venom acupuncture therapy against rotenone-induced oxidative stress and apoptosis. Neurochemistry International. 80:79–86. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuint.2014.11.008.
Kim WH, An HJ, Kim JY, et al. (2018) Anti-inflammatory effect of Melittin on Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS-stimulated human keratinocytes. Molecules 23:332. DOI: 10.3390/molecules23020332.
Kinney JW, Bemiller SM, Murtishaw AS, et al. (2018) Inflammation as a central mechanism in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer's and Dementia 4:575-590. DOI: 10.1016/j.trci.2018.06.014.
Kolayli S and Keskin M (2020) Natural bee products and their apitherapeutic applications. Studies in Natural Products Chemistry 66:175–196.
Krell R (1996) Value-Added Products from Beekeeping. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; Rome, Italy. SAO Agricultural Services Bulletin.
Lim HN, Baek SB and Jung HJ (2019) Bee venom and its peptide component melittin suppress growth and migration of Melanoma Cells via inhibition of PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK pathways. Molecules 24:929. DOI: 10.3390/molecules24050929.
Liu S, Yu M, He Y, et al. (20098) Melittin prevents liver cancer cell metastasis through inhibition of the Rac1-dependent pathway. Hepatology 47:1964–1973. DOI: 10.1002/hep.22240.
Liu X, Chen D, Xie L and Zhang R (2002) Effect of honey bee venom on proliferation of K1735M2 mouse melanoma cells in-vitro and growth of murine B16 melanomas in-vivo. The Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 54:1083–1089. DOI: 10.1211/002235702320266235.
Moreno M and Giralt E (2015) Three valuable peptides from bee and wasp venoms for therapeutic and biotechnological use: Melittin, apamin and mastoparan. Toxins 7:1126–1150. DOI: 10.3390/toxins7041126.
Mraz C (1995) Health and the Honeybee. Queen City Publications; Burlington, VT, USA.
NIH (1995) Apitherapy, Alternative Medicine: Expanding Medical Horizons. NIH Pub.; Bethesda, MD, USA: 1995. pp. 172–175.
Park HJ, Son DJ, Oh KW, et al. (2004) Inhibition of inflammation mediator generation by suppression of NF-kB through interaction with the p50 subunit. Arthritis and Rheumatology 50:504–3515. DOI: 10.1002/art.20626.
Rajagopalan V and Pioro EP (2019) Unbiased MRI analyses identify micropathologic differences between upper motor neuron-predominant ALS phenotypes. Frontiers in Neuroscience 13:1-8. DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00704.
Rho YH, Woo JH, Choi SJ, et al. (2009) A new onset of systemic lupus erythematosus developed after bee venom therapy. The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine 24:283–285. DOI: 10.3904/kjim.2009.24.3.283.
Singh D (2020) Commercial Beekeeping (Production, Processing and Value Addition of Beehive Products for Income and Employment Generation), Scientific Publishers; Jodhpur, India. Bee Venom. pp. 257–262.
Socarras KM, Theophilus PAS, Torres JP, et al. (2017) Antimicrobial activity of bee venom and melittin against Borrelia burgdorferi. Antibiotics 6(4):31. DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics6040031.
Szabat P, Poleszak J, Szabat M, et al. (2019) Apitherapy-The medical use of bee products. Journal of Education, Health and Sport 9:384–396.
Tanner CM, Kamel F, Ross GW, et al (2011) Rotenone, paraquat, and Parkinson’s disease. Environmental Health Perspectives 119:866–872. DOI: 10.1289/ehp.1002839.
Terry AV and Buccafusco JJ (2003) The cholinergic hypothesis of age and Alzheimer’s disease-related cognitive deficits: recent challenges and their implications for novel drug development. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 306:821–827. DOI: 10.1124/jpet.102.041616.
Urtubey N (2005) Apitoxin: From Bee Venom to Apitoxin for Medical Use. Termas de Rio Grande Santiago del Estero; Rio Hondo, Argentina.
Van Eldik LJ, Carrillo MC, Cole PE, et al. (2016) The roles of inflammation and immune mechanisms in Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers and Dementia 2:99–109. DOI: 10.1016/j.trci.2016.05.001.
Wang C, Chen T, Zhang N, et al. (2009) Melittin, a major component of bee venom, sensitizes human hepatocellular carcinoma cells to tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL)-induced apoptosis by activating CaMKII-TAK1-JNK/p38 and inhibiting IkB alpha Kinase-NFkB. Journal of Biological Chemistry 284:3804–3813. DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M807191200.
Wehbe R, Frangieh J, Rima M, et al. (2019) Bee Venom: Overview of main compounds and bioactivities for therapeutic interests. Molecules 24:2997. DOI: 10.3390/molecules24162997.
Yang EJ, Jiang JH, Lee SM, et al. (2010) Bee venom attenuates neuroinflammatory events and extends survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis models. Journal of Neuroinflammation 7:69. DOI: 10.1186/1742-2094-7-69.
Ye M, Chung HS, Lee C, et al. (2016) Neuroprotective effects of bee venom phospholipase A2 in the 3xTg AD mousemodel of Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Neuroinflammation 13:10.
Zhang S, Liu Y, Ye Y, et al. (2018) Bee venom therapy: Potential mechanisms and therapeutic applications. Toxicon 148:64–73. DOI: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2018.04.012.
Zuazo-Gaztelu I and Casanovas O (2018) Unravelling the role of angiogenesis in cancer ecosystems. Frontiers in Oncology 8:248. DOI: 10.3389/fonc.2018.00248.
License: Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third-party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. Visit for more details http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.