Sunday, March 31, 2013

Rose Bee Pollen Has Antitumor Activity


Antitumor Activity of Bee Pollen Polysaccharides from Rosa rugosa
Mol Med Rep, 2013 Mar 20
In the present study, bee pollen polysaccharides from Rosa rugosa (WRPP) were extracted and fractionated. WRPP were purified to neutral (WRPP-N) and acidic polysaccharides (WRPP-1, WRPP-2) with DEAE-Cellulose.
WRPP-N were mainly composed of glucose, mannose, arabinose and galactose, indicating the existence of glucan, arabinogalactan (AG) and mannoglucan. WRPP-1 mainly consisted of rhamnose (3.0%), galacturonic acid (12.4%), galactose (24.7%) and arabinose (53.9%), and contained a large proportion of AGs. WRPP-2 consisted of rhamnose (7.8%), galacturonic acid (23.0%), galactose (15%) and arabinose (48.7%), while WRPP-2 contained more galacturonic acid compared to WRPP-1. WRPP-1 and WRPP-2 were composed by type I rhamnogalacturonan (RG-I), homogalacturonan (HG) and AG fragments, while WRPP-2 contained more HG and RG-I.
All the fractions had significant anti-proliferative activity in HT-29 and HCT116 cells; the neutral and acidic fractions were shown to have significant synergistic effects which accounted for the antitumor activity of bee pollen polysaccharides from Rosa rugosa in vitro.

Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Medicine of the Manuka



An Investigation of the Usages and Methods for Utilization of Honey Derived From Leptospermum scoparium in Holistic Nursing Practice
J Holist Nurs, 2013 Mar 27
As nursing moves into the next paradigm of health care, there is an increasing shift toward integrative health care that is founded on the integration of traditional or complementary medicines alongside biomedicine. As part of the shift nurses are increasingly observing clients accessing traditional forms of medicine.
One such product that has been used for hundreds of years and is more recently being incorporated into nursing care is the honey produced by bees pollinating Leptospermum scoparium, traditionally known as Manuka. Manuka honey is currently used widely in wound care and as a topical antibacterial, antifungal, and anti-inflammatory.
Review of the literature supports a very effective and low-risk botanical intervention that is both cost-effective and easily accessible. There is future scope for the use of L. scoparium oil products in nursing and potential for further research to continue to discover its effectiveness.

Friday, March 29, 2013

Saudi Sidr Honey Prevents Liver and Kidney Damage



Attenuation of CCl4-Induced Oxidative Stress and Hepatonephrotoxicity by Saudi Sidr Honey in Rats
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med, 2013;2013:569037 Epub 2013 Feb 24
The present study was undertaken to investigate the possible protective effect of Saudi Sidr honey (SSH) on carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) induced oxidative stress and liver and kidney damage in rat. Moreover, the antioxidant activity and the phenolic and flavonoidal contents were determined.
The hepatorenal protective activity of the SSH was determined by assessing biochemical, hematological, and histological parameters. Serum transaminases, ALP, GGT, creatinine, bilirubin urea, uric acid, and MDA level in liver and kidney tissues were significantly elevated, and the antioxidant status of nonprotein sulfhydryls, albumin, and total protein levels in liver and kidney were declined significantly in CCl4 alone treated animals.
Pretreatment with SSH and silymarin prior to the administration of CCl4 significantly prevented the increase of the serum levels of enzyme markers and reduced oxidative stress. SSH also exhibited a significant lipid-lowering effect and caused an HDL-C enhanced level in serum.
The histopathological evaluation of the liver and kidney also revealed that honey protected incidence of both liver and kidney lesions. Moreover, SSH showed a strong antioxidant activity in DPPH and β -carotene-linoleic acid assays. SSH was found to contain phenolic compounds. Additionally, the SSH supplementation restored the hepatocytes viability against 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein (DCF) toxicity in ex vivo test.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Beeswax as Dental Filling on a Neolithic Human Tooth


PLoS One, 2012;7(9):e44904
Evidence of prehistoric dentistry has been limited to a few cases, the most ancient dating back to the Neolithic. Here we report a 6500-year-old human mandible from Slovenia whose left canine crown bears the traces of a filling with beeswax. The use of different analytical techniques, including synchrotron radiation computed micro-tomography (micro-CT), Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating, Infrared (IR) Spectroscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), has shown that the exposed area of dentine resulting from occlusal wear and the upper part of a vertical crack affecting enamel and dentin tissues were filled with beeswax shortly before or after the individual's death.
If the filling was done when the person was still alive, the intervention was likely aimed to relieve tooth sensitivity derived from either exposed dentine and/or the pain resulting from chewing on a cracked tooth: this would provide the earliest known direct evidence of therapeutic-palliative dental filling.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Propolis Component Could Help Treat Cervical Cancer


Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester Induces E2F-1-Mediated Growth Inhibition and Cell Cycle Arrest in Human Cervical Cancer Cells
FEBS Journal, Accepted Article
Caffeic acid phenyl ester (CAPE) has been identified as an active component of propolis, a substance that confers a variety of cellular activities in cells of different origins. However, the molecular basis of CAPE-mediated cellular activity remains to be clarified. Here, we show that CAPE preferentially induced S- and G2/M- phase cell cycle arrests and initiated apoptosis in human cervical cancer lines.
The effect was found to be associated with increased expression of E2F-1 in cervical cancer cells as there is no CAPE-mediated induction of E2F-1 in the precancerous cervical Z172 cells. CAPE also upregulated the E2F-1 target genes cyclin A, cyclin E, and apoptotic protease activation of factor 1 (Apaf-1) but down regulated cyclin B and myeloid leukemia cell differentiation protein (Mcl-1). These results suggested the involvement of E2F-1 in CAPE-mediated growth inhibition and cell cycle arrest. Transient transfection studies with luciferase reporters revealed that CAPE altered transcriptional activity of the apaf-1 and mcl-1 promoters. Further studies using chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays demonstrated that in CAPE-treated cells, E2F-1 binding to the apaf-1 and cyclin B promoters was increased and decreased, respectively. Furthermore, E2F-1 silencing abolished CAPE-mediated effects on cell cycle arrest, apoptosis, and related gene expression.
Taken together, these results indicate a crucial role for E2F-1 in CAPE-mediated cellular activities in cervical cancer cells.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Propolis Shows Cytotoxic and Antioxidative Activities

Chemical Composition, Cytotoxic and Antioxidative Activities of Ethanolic Extracts of propolis on HCT-116 Cell Line
Background
Propolis is a complex resinous sticky substance that honeybees collect from buds and exudates of various plants. Due to propolis versatile biological and pharmacological activities, it is widely used in medicine, cosmetics and food industry. The aim of this study was to evaluate cytotoxic and antioxidative effects of various ethanolic extracts of propolis (EEP) on human colon cancer cell line (HCT-116) and compare it with their composition. HPLC-DAD method was used to determine the chemical composition of propolis samples. 
Results
The most abundant flavonoids in all samples were chrysin, pinocembrin and galangin (12.697- 40.811 µg mg-1). On the other hand, main phenolic acids were caffeic, ferulic and isoferulic acid. Dose and time-dependent inhibition of cell growth of HCT-116 cells was observed in all propolis samples, with IC50 values ranging from 26.33 to 143.09 µg mL-1. Differences in cytotoxic activity of propolis samples were associated with differences in their composition. Our results showed that all EEP samples reduced both superoxide anion radical and nitrite levels and also had strong DPPH scavenging activity.
Conclusion
All tested propolis samples had pronounced cytotoxic and antioxidative activities.