Propolis and bee venom in diabetic wounds; a potential approach that warrants clinical investigation

Abstract

Background: Wound healing in diabetes mellitus is a complex multi-stage process that requires the proper function of multiple systems. The mechanisms of impaired wound healing of diabetic wounds are still poorly understood. Therefore, various interventions are being used for wound management without great success. Bee products have various properties that make them an important addition to the diabetic wound management. Methods: This review summarized previous and recently published papers of the effects of two bee products, propolis and bee venom, on the wound healing. The main results were obtained from preclinical experimentation. Results: Diabetes mellitus compromises immune system, increases infections, impairs wound healing, and affects cells and factors involved in the wound healing. There is an increasing interest in natural products in modern medicine as part of disease management. Bee products are natural substances that others and we have explored some of their biological activities and applications in the treatment of various diseases. Some of these products are bee venom and propolis. These products have analgesic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, both propolis and bee venom contain considerable amounts of antioxidants that have a great role in accelerating wound healing. Conclusion: There is sound rationality and scientific data for using propolis and bee venom in diabetic wound healing. We believe that topical application of propolis in addition to bee venom might have a place in repairing damaged tissues and accelerating the healing of diabetic wounds.

Bee Products in Dermatology and Skin Care

“…Topically applied propolis decreased persistent inflammatory in diabetic wounds by normalizing neutrophil and neutrophil elastase. Caffeic acid is responsible for anti-inflammatory effect of propolis [55]. Genistein from propolis accelerated wound healing and stimulated wound angiogenesis in mice with diabetes type-1 [56].…”

“…Genistein from propolis accelerated wound healing and stimulated wound angiogenesis in mice with diabetes type-1 [56]. Furthermore propolis may be effective in healing in different animal models including animals with burns and diabetic wounds [3,55,56]. Moreover propolis is highly effective in the treatment of Acne vulgaris.…”

Profile and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Pattern of Bacterial Isolates from Infected Wounds of Patients Attending Berekum Holy Family Hospital in Ghana

“…Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been identified to account for 20-40% of wound infection and 5-15% nosocomial infections respectively, with infection mainly following surgery and burns [6]. Studies in other polymicrobial chronic infections suggest that the presence of specific pathogens is more important than that of the bacterial burden [7,8], contributing to the non-healing outcome in acute and chronic wound infections.…”

Natural actives for wound healing: A review

“…These data indicated that bee venom and propolis have potential therapeutic properties in chronic diabetic wound, and the use of propolis and/or bee venom can be new effective intervention in clinical practice. However, their therapeutic effects should be proved by clinical studies, focusing on the advantage of using these agents over the current interventions, particularly in respect of therapeutic activities, safety, and cost effectiveness (Al‐Waili et al, ).…”

“…Al-Waili et al, 2015;Boufadi et al, 2014;Falcão et al, 2014Corrêa et al, 2017;Hozzein et al, 2015;Iyyam Pillai et al, 2010;McLennan et al, 2008)(Henshaw et al, 2014) …”