Postantibiotic effect of purified melittin from honeybee (Apis mellifera) venom against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus.

Since the ancient times, the antibacterial application of honeybee venom (BV) has been practised and persisted. We investigated the antibacterial activity of whole BV and purified melittin against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus by the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and the postantibiotic effects (PAEs). The in vitro PAEs of whole BV and isolated melittin were determined using E. coli and S. aureus. The PAEs of whole BV against E. coli and S. aureus were 0.15 h (1 x MIC), 2.4 h (5 x MIC), and 3.45 h (1 x MIC), respectively. The PAEs of melittin against E. coli and S. aureus were 0.1 h (1 x MIC), 3.2 h (5 x MIC), and 4.35 h (1 x MIC), respectively. These results suggest that whole BV and melittin will be developed as a novel antibacterial drug.

Effect of honey bee venom on microglial cells nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-alpha production stimulated by LPS.

Abnormal activation of microglial cells has been implicated in various neurodegenerative diseases. Results showed that venom (KBV) produced and purified in Korea regulated lipopolysaccharides (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) in the murine microglia, BV-2 cell line. The production of proinflammatory cytokines, NO, and TNF-alpha was examined by LPS in BV-2 cell. The effect of KBV on the expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and TNF-alpha was investigated by Western blot and RT-PCR in LPS-stimulated BV-2 cells. KBV suppressed the NO, iNOS, and TNF-alpha production, and decreased the levels of iNOS and TNF-alpha mRNA. These results suggest that KBV has anti-inflammatory properties that inhibit iNOS and TNF-alpha expression. KBV could be useful in inhibiting the production of inflammatory cytokine and NO production in neurodegenerative diseases. Further studies on the pharmacological aspects of the individual components of KBV are recommended.