Bee venom for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease: How far is it possible?

Awad, Kamal; Abushouk, Abdelrahman Ibrahim; Abdelkarim, Ahmed; Mohammed, Maged; Negida, Ahmed; Shalash, Ali

doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2017.04.065

Cited by 25 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…Literature search yielded a number of studies, which involved the use of RJ, bee venom, and propolis to target PD pathology. Given that an existing review has previously evaluated the effect of bee venom on PD [ 7 ], the current review focused on examining the effect of other bee products (propolis and RJ) with further elaboration on their underlying molecular mechanism. This section describes active compounds in and biological properties of propolis and RJ in detail.…”

Section: Apitherapy As a Possible Complementary Treatment For Parkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parkinson's disease (PD) is an age-related neurological disorder that affects more than 6.3 million people [ 4 , 5 ] accounting for around 2% of the world's population [ 6 ], which makes it the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disease worldwide [ 7 ]. The key pathological hallmark of the disease is chronic, progressive, and selective degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC) that results from intraneuronal accumulation of misfolded proteins, mainly the synaptic protein α -synuclein, a major component of Lewy bodies [ 4 , 6 , 8 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Apitherapy for Parkinson’s Disease: A Focus on the Effects of Propolis and Royal Jelly

Ali

2020

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity

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The vast increase of world’s aging populations is associated with increased risk of age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). PD is a widespread disorder characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, which encompasses a wide range of debilitating motor, emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms. PD threatens the quality of life of millions of patients and their families. Additionally, public welfare and healthcare systems are burdened with its high cost of care. Available treatments provide only a symptomatic relief and produce a trail of noxious side effects, which increase noncompliance. Hence, researchers have recently focused on the use of nutraceuticals as safe adjunctive treatments of PD to limit its progress and associated damages in affected groups. Propolis is a common product of the beehive, which possesses a large number of therapeutic properties. Royal jelly (RJ) is a bee product that is fed to bee queens during their entire life, and it contributes to their high physical fitness, fertility, and long lifespan. Evidence suggests that propolis and RJ can promote health by preventing the occurrence of age-related debilitating diseases. Therefore, they have been used to treat various serious disorders such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Some evolving studies used these bee products to treat PD in animal models. However, a clear understanding of the collective effect of propolis and RJ as well as their mechanism of action in PD is lacking. This review evaluates the available literature for the effects of propolis and RJ on PD. Whenever possible, it elaborates on the underlying mechanisms through which they function in this disorder and offers insights for fruitful use of bee products in future clinical trials.

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Section: Apitherapy As a Possible Complementary Treatment For Parkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Apitherapy for Parkinson’s Disease: A Focus on the Effects of Propolis and Royal Jelly

Ali

2020

Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity

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“…Bee venom from Apis mellifera possesses the anti-inflammatory effect, and can reduce microglial activation, CD4+ T cells infiltration, and oxidative stress as well as improve motor coordination and balance in various animal Parkinson’s models (Awad et al . 2017 ; de Souza et al . 2018 ; Silva et al .…”

Section: The Therapeutic Applications Of Animal Toxins In Diseasesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Animal protein toxins: origins and therapeutic applications

Chen

Zhang

et al. 2018

Biophys Rep

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Venomous animals on the earth have been found to be valuable resources for the development of therapeutics. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic proteins and peptides are the major components of animal venoms, many of which can target various ion channels, receptors, and membrane transporters. Compared to traditional small molecule drugs, natural proteins and peptides exhibit higher specificity and potency to their targets. In this review, we summarize the varieties and characteristics of toxins from a few representative venomous animals, and describe the components and applications of animal toxins as potential drug candidates in the treatment of human diseases, including cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, neuropathic pain, as well as autoimmune diseases. In the meantime, there are many obstacles to translate new toxin discovery to their clinical applications. The challenges, strategies, and perspectives in the development of the protein toxin-based drugs are discussed as well.

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“…This study confirmed that adjunctive application of bee venom pharmacoacupuncture could significantly improve total UPDRS scores. The mechanisms of action of bee venom in IPD are believed to be as follows [ 13 ]: (i) mitigation of neuroinflammation and microglial activation, (ii) suppression of apoptosis in dopaminergic neurons, (iii) protective effect against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity, and (iv) recovery of normal brain neurochemistry. Consistent with the proposed mechanisms of pharmacoacupuncture, 1 RCT [ 9 ] and 1 prospective open-label clinical study [ 14 ] have been published.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pharmacoacupuncture for Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Cho

Kim

Jung

et al. 2018

Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine

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Introduction Pharmacoacupuncture is a new acupuncture treatment that stimulates acupuncture points by injecting herbal medicine into them. Recently, pharmacoacupuncture has been widely used in the treatment of idiopathic Parkinson's disease in traditional East Asian medicine. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of pharmacoacupuncture in the treatment of idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Methods The following electronic databases were searched for studies published in or before December 2016: Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EMBASE, OASIS, and CNKI, without language restriction. The main outcome assessed was the total Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) score. The details of the pharmacoacupuncture intervention, such as the herbal medicine and acupuncture points used, were also investigated. Results From 138 studies, 3 randomized controlled trials were included; the number of patients analyzed was 134. Most of the studies showed considerable methodological flaws. There was heterogeneity of the intervention type and treatment duration in the included studies. Therefore, we could not conduct a meta-analysis. In one study, adjunctive bee venom pharmacoacupuncture therapy significantly improved total UPDRS scores compared with conventional therapy alone. Another study, which used adjunctive Kakkonein pharmacoacupuncture, did not reveal significant improvement compared with conventional therapy alone. A third study reported that Mailuoning pharmacoacupuncture was able to significantly improve the modified Webster Symptom Score when compared with no treatment. Adverse events related to the pharmacoacupuncture were reported in only one case, itching caused by the bee venom. Conclusions Our findings regarding the efficacy of pharmacoacupuncture as a therapy for idiopathic Parkinson's disease are currently inconclusive. Further large and rigorous clinical trials are needed.

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Bee venom for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease: How far is it possible?

Cited by 25 publications

References 80 publications

Apitherapy for Parkinson’s Disease: A Focus on the Effects of Propolis and Royal Jelly

Apitherapy for Parkinson’s Disease: A Focus on the Effects of Propolis and Royal Jelly

Animal protein toxins: origins and therapeutic applications

Pharmacoacupuncture for Idiopathic Parkinson’s Disease: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

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