Bee Venom Treatment for Refractory Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Case Report

Lee, Seung Min; Lim, Jinwoong; Lee, Jae-Dong; Choi, Dongsu; Lee, Sanghoon

doi:10.1089/acm.2013.0130

Cited by 17 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Bee venom is a weapon that bees use to protect themselves. In humans, however, it has been used as an anti-inflammatory medicine to relieve pain and treat chronic inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 ]. While bee venom itself causes nociceptive and neurotoxic effects, several recent studies have demonstrated that bee venom has radioprotective [ 8 ], antimutagenic [ 9 ], anti-inflammatory [ 7 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], anti-nociceptive [ 15 , 16 , 17 ] and anti-cancer [ 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ] activities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bee Venom Phospholipase A2: Yesterday’s Enemy Becomes Today’s Friend

Lee

Bae

2016

Toxins

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Bee venom therapy has been used to treat immune-related diseases such as arthritis for a long time. Recently, it has revealed that group III secretory phospholipase A2 from bee venom (bee venom group III sPLA2) has in vitro and in vivo immunomodulatory effects. A growing number of reports have demonstrated the therapeutic effects of bee venom group III sPLA2. Notably, new experimental data have shown protective immune responses of bee venom group III sPLA2 against a wide range of diseases including asthma, Parkinson’s disease, and drug-induced organ inflammation. It is critical to evaluate the beneficial and adverse effects of bee venom group III sPLA2 because this enzyme is known to be the major allergen of bee venom that can cause anaphylactic shock. For many decades, efforts have been made to avoid its adverse effects. At high concentrations, exposure to bee venom group III sPLA2 can result in damage to cellular membranes and necrotic cell death. In this review, we summarized the current knowledge about the therapeutic effects of bee venom group III sPLA2 on several immunological diseases and described the detailed mechanisms of bee venom group III sPLA2 in regulating various immune responses and physiopathological changes.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bee Venom Phospholipase A2: Yesterday’s Enemy Becomes Today’s Friend

Lee

Bae

2016

Toxins

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“…Bee venom (BV) from honey bees ( Apis mellifera L.) has been utilized for centuries as a pain reliever, anti-coagulant and anti-inflammatory agent for the treatment of chronic diseases, such as arthritis, rheumatism, tendonitis, bursitis, fibrosis and multiple sclerosis [ 15 - 18 ]. In Korea, apitherapy, which uses the stings of live honey bees, has shown therapeutic value for treating piglets, calves and dairy cows with several respiratory diseases [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Antifungal Activity of Bee Venom and Sweet Bee Venom against Clinically Isolated Candida albicans

Lee

2016

J. Pharmacopunct

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Objectives:The purpose of this study was to investigate the antifungal effect of bee venom (BV) and sweet bee venom (SBV) against Candida albicans (C. albicans) clinical isolates.Methods:In this study, BV and SBV were examined for antifungal activities against the Korean Collection for Type Cultures (KCTC) strain and 10 clinical isolates of C. albicans. The disk diffusion method was used to measure the antifungal activity and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays were performed by using a broth microdilution method. Also, a killing curve assay was conducted to investigate the kinetics of the anti- fungal action.Results:BV and SBV showed antifungal activity against 10 clinical isolates of C. albicans that were cultured from blood and the vagina by using disk diffusion method. The MIC values obtained for clinical isolates by using the broth microdilution method varied from 62.5 μg/ mL to 125 μg/mL for BV and from 15.63 μg/mL to 62.5 μg/mL for SBV. In the killing-curve assay, SBV behaved as amphotericin B, which was used as positive control, did. The antifungal efficacy of SBV was much higher than that of BV.Conclusion:BV and SBV showed antifungal activity against C. albicans clinical strains that were isolated from blood and the vagina. Especially, SBV might be a candidate for a new antifungal agent against C. albicans clinical isolates.

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“…Use of apitoxins and other venoms in the treatment of pain have not been widely researched in humans with only a few case reports using venoms to treat neuropathic pain. One such case reported complete resolution of post-herpetic neuralgia after repeated treatments with bee venom [10]. Only one paper reported use of bee venom in a human subject with CRPS [2].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Taking the sting out of CRPS: bee venom to treat complex regional pain syndrome

et al. 2016

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We describe the case of a 48-year-old right hand dominant male engineer diagnosed with complex regional pain syndrome 4 months following surgical repair of a distal biceps tendon rupture. He reported significant improvement in CRPS symptoms following an accidental bee sting and sought deliberate bee venom (apitoxin) inoculation to the affected limb. A single report in the literature describes the use of bee venom to treat CRPS in a human. The components of apitoxin include adolapin, melittin, apamin, phospholipase A2, histamine and protease inhibitors. Melittin and apamin have roles in synaptic transmission modulation and cell lysis. Adolapin inhibits cyclooxygenase and has analgesic, anti-inflammatory and anti-pyretic effects. Further research is required into the components of apitoxin as a potential treatment for CRPS.

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Bee Venom Treatment for Refractory Postherpetic Neuralgia: A Case Report

Abstract: Bee venom treatment demonstrates the potential to become an effective treatment for postherpetic neuralgia. Further large-sample clinical trials should be conducted to evaluate the overall safety and efficacy of this treatment.

Cited by 17 publications

References 17 publications

Bee Venom Phospholipase A2: Yesterday’s Enemy Becomes Today’s Friend

Bee Venom Phospholipase A2: Yesterday’s Enemy Becomes Today’s Friend

Antifungal Activity of Bee Venom and Sweet Bee Venom against Clinically Isolated Candida albicans

Taking the sting out of CRPS: bee venom to treat complex regional pain syndrome

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