Bee pollen and propolis improve neuroinflammation and dysbiosis induced by propionic acid, a short chain fatty acid in a rodent model of autism

Abstract

BackgroundNeuroinflammation plays a major role in the pathogenesis of autism because the cytokine levels are typically disturbed in the brain in autistic patients. Prebiotics-rich diet maintains the healthy gut microbiota and hence can regulate the neuroinflammation indirectly. The study aimed to investigate the role of bee pollen and propolis in ameliorating neuroinflammation, including cytokine levels, in an animal model of autism.MethodsHamsters were classified as four groups: Group I, control; Group II, autistic model/animals treated with 250 mg propionic acid (PPA)/kg body weight (BW)/day for 3 days; Group III, animals treated with bee pollen at a dose of 250 mg/kg BW/day for 4 weeks; and Group IV, animals treated with propolis at a dose of 250 mg/kg BW/day for 4 weeks. Neuroinflammatory responses were evaluated using the levels of interferon γ (IFN-γ), interleukin 1 alpha (IL-1α), IL-6, IL-10, IL-12 (p70), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα).ResultsSignificant decrease of IL-10 (P<0.026), VEGF (P<0.005), and TNFα(P<0.005) levels and increased IL-1α (P<0.032), IL-6(P<0.028), and IFN-γ (P<0.013) levels were observed between the four studied groups. The neurotoxic effects of PPA was clearly presented as much higher IL-6, as pro-inflammatory cytokine (P<0.05), concomitant with much lower IL-10, as anti-inflammatory cytokine(P<0.015) compared to controls. Both bee pollen and propolis were effective in ameliorating the neurotoxic effects of PPA demonstrating non-significant changes of IL-6 and IL-10 when compared to control healthy hamsters.ConclusionsOur findings indicate that both bee pollen and propolis protect against neuroinflammation in the rodent model of autism. However, further studies are needed to investigate the clinical benefits of prebiotics-rich diet in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism.

Testing the combined effects of probiotics and prebiotics against neurotoxic effects of propionic acid orally administered to rat pups

“…This shows the amelioration effect of the bee pollen and probiotics mixture against PPA‐induced neuroinflammation. This is in good agreement with (Aabed, Bhat, Al‐Dbass, et al., 2019 ; Aabed, Bhat, Moubayed, et al., 2019 ) which bee pollen showed a decrease in IL‐6 levels compared with PPA‐treated hamsters, as well as (Hegazi et al., 2015 ) whom reported the active substances of bee pollen which can act upon immunity responses. In probiotic case, Lactobacillus plantarum was able to reduce IL‐6 levels caused by ethanol‐induced neuroinflammation (Shukla et al., 2020 ), also Magistrelli et al.…”

Efficacy of Novavit in ameliorating the neurotoxicity of propionic acid

“…The finding of the current study is of great support to our previous work in which vitamin D, CoQ10, vitamin B12, carnitine, and bioflavonoids (as major components of bee pollen) demonstrate significant potency in ameliorating PPA-induced persistent autistic features in the rodent model [77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84].…”

Immunomodulatory effects of bee pollen on doxorubicin‐induced bone marrow/spleen immunosuppression in rat

“…While the results of this study showed that BP in BP100/200+DOX groups caused a systemic increase in cytokines (GM‐CSF, G‐CSF, and IL‐10) that stimulate hematopoietic progenitor (HP) cells It also reduced the level of ROS‐mediated pro‐inflammatory cytokines (IL‐6 and IL‐1β) in the BM. Aabed et al., (2019) in a study on the protective effects of BP on propionic acid (PPA)‐induced neuro‐inflammation in a rodent model of autism showed that BP can decrease systemic IL‐6, IFN‐γ and IL‐1α alongside increase IL‐10 and TNF‐α levels thereby suppressing the inflammatory pathways mediated by cytokines leading to proliferation and activation of immune cells from BM haematopoietic progenitor (HP) cells which ameliorating the neurotoxic effects of PPA. In an in vitro study of LPS‐Induced RAW 264.7 cells, Lee et al., (2020) showed that BP, in addition to its high antioxidant properties and reduced NO content, iNOS and cyclooxygenase‐2 (COX‐2), reduced IL‐1b, IL‐6 and TNF‐α levels as inflammatory mediators in macrophages.…”