Study Looks at Anti-Inflammatory Effects of Bee Venom

Bee Venom Suppresses LPS-Mediated NO/iNOS Induction Through Inhibition of PKC-α Expression
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, Article in Press

Bee venom (BV) is a traditional Korean medicine that has been widely used with satisfactory results in the treatment of some immune-related diseases, especially rheumatoid arthritis.

The purpose of this study is to elucidate the molecular mechanism underlying the anti-inflammatory effects of BV, which is used in the treatment of various inflammatory diseases in traditional Korean medicine. We evaluated the anti-inflammatory effect of BV on NO generation and iNOS expression by LPS in rat C6 glioma cells…

BV suppressed the LPS-induced NO generation and iNOS expression, and it also inhibited the expressions of LPS-induced pro-inflammatory molecules including Cox-2 and IL-1β in rat C6 glioma cells. Then, BV inhibited LPS-induced expression of PKC-α and MEK/ERK, not p38 and JNK. Moreover, inhibition of LPS-induced iNOS expression by BV was dependent on transcriptional activites of AP-1/NF-κB through MEK/ERK pathway.

These results indicate that BV suppresses LPS-induced iNOS activation through regulation of PKC-α. Accordingly, BV exerts a potent suppressive effect on pro-inflammatory responses in rat C6 glioma cells.