Potential Therapeutic Applications of Bee Venom on Skin Disease and Its Mechanisms: A Literature Review

Abstract

Skin is larger than any other organ in humans. Like other organs, various bacterial, viral, and inflammatory diseases, as well as cancer, affect the skin. Skin diseases like acne, atopic dermatitis, and psoriasis often reduce the quality of life seriously. Therefore, effective treatment of skin disorders is important despite them not being life-threatening. Conventional medicines for skin diseases include corticosteroids and antimicrobial drugs, which are effective in treating many inflammatory and infectious skin diseases; however, there are growing concerns about the side effects of these therapies, especially during long-term use in relapsing or intractable diseases. Hence, many researchers are trying to develop alternative treatments, especially from natural sources, to resolve these limitations. Bee venom (BV) is an attractive candidate because many experimental and clinical reports show that BV exhibits anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, anti-fibrotic, antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal, and anticancer effects. Here, we review the therapeutic applications of BV in skin diseases, including acne, alopecia, atopic dermatitis, melanoma, morphea, photoaging, psoriasis, wounds, wrinkles, and vitiligo. Moreover, we explore the therapeutic mechanisms of BV in the treatment of skin diseases and cytotoxic effects of BV on skin disease-causing pathogens, including bacteria, fungi and viruses.

Bee Products in Dermatology and Skin Care

“…Purified bee venom reduced number of C. acnes at concentration of 0.5 mg. Bee venom possesses bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects thanks to melittin [38]. It has a significant antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus pyrogenes [39,83]. Melittin is a toxic peptide that causes destruction of the bacterial cell wall [38].…”

“…Bee venom is used to produce antiphotoaging and anti-acne products [8,44]. Bee venom is used in treatment psoriasis, atopic dermatitis and alopecia [39].…”

Extending Metabolomic Studies of Apis mellifera Venom: LC-MS-Based Targeted Analysis of Organic Acids

“…Nowadays, it is a subject of many studies due to its pharmacological and biological activities. Therefore, there are several medicinal applications of HBV into the human body for the treatment of some diseases to include Parkinson's disease [2], multiple sclerosis [3], cancer [4], liver fibrosis [5], skin diseases [6], and pain [7] treatment. The second means of application of HBV is venom immunotherapy, which is designed to reduce the risk of a systemic reaction in the case of Hymenoptera stings [8].…”

Arthropod Venom Components and Their Potential Usage

“…One of the most studied animal venoms, bee venom, still has many interesting aspects to be discovered and explored. Crude venom and isolated components were reexamined in a review dealing with the potential therapeutic applications of bee venom to treat skin diseases [13], and in three different research articles dealing with bee venom peptides, melittin and tertiapin, from the view of immunology, molecular neurobiology and physiology. Indeed, Lubawy and collaborators studied the immunotropic and cardiotropic effects of melittin on the physiology of beetle Tenebrio molitor [14], while Choi and coworkers investigated the use of melittin as an analgesic to treat peripheral neuropathy caused by oxaliplatin (an anticancer drug), demonstrating the molecular basis of this particular melittin effect, which was mediated by the activation of the spinal α1and α2-adrenergic receptors [15].…”