Suppressive Effect of Honey on Antigen/Mitogen Stimulated Murine T Cell Proliferation

Abstract

It has been reported that the intraperitoneal administration of honey suppressed the induction of antigen-specific humoral antibody response in mice as determined by passive cutaneous anaphylaxis and Ouchterlony double immunodiffusion tests. Hence, we studied the effect of honey on induction of antigen-specific IgG antibody response and found suppression in mice as determined by ELISA and also T cell proliferation in vitro. T cell proliferation induced by antigens such as ovalbumin, diphtheria toxoid and tetanus toxoid, as well as the mitogens concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin, was significantly suppressed by various doses of natural and commercial honeys, as evaluated by 3 H-thymidine incorporation. Furthermore, the suppressive effect of honey was also confirmed on antigen-or mitogen-induced T cell proliferative responses using splenic T cells from different haplotypes of mice. The results obtained in this work confirm the antiproliferative activity of honey.

Study of anticancer, antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, and silver nanoparticles production by Sidr honey from three different sources

“…Another explanation was shown by some workers (Duddukuri, Rao, & Athota, ) where they suggested that the inhibitory potential of honey may be due to the direct suppressive effect of honey on T‐cell proliferation. When adding silver nitrate to the honey, some biomolecules are consumed to produce silver nanoparticles as indicated earlier using FTIR analysis in this work.…”

Characterization of Immunomodulatory Activities of Honey Glycoproteins and Glycopeptides

“…An immunostimulatory effect of honey on antibody production against thymus-dependent (sheep red blood cells) and thymus-independent (Escherichia coli) antigens in mice has also been observed . Likewise, honey also inhibited mitogen-activated T cell proliferation in vitro . Moreover, honey regulates homeostasis by inhibiting human platelet aggregation and blood coagulation proteins…”

“…15 Likewise, honey also inhibited mitogen-activated T cell proliferation in vitro. 16 Moreover, honey regulates homeostasis by inhibiting human platelet aggregation and blood coagulation proteins. 17 Natural honeys have a low protein content, which varies from type to type.…”