Bee Venom Could Be Used to Treat MS

Effect of honey bee venom on lewis rats with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis, a model for multiple sclerosis

Iran J Pharm Res, 2012 Spring;11(2):671-8

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive and autoimmune neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). This disease is recognized through symptoms like inflammation, demyelination and the destruction of neurological actions.

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a widely accepted animal model for MS. EAE is created in animals by injecting the tissue of myelin basic protein (MBP), CNS, or myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) along with the adjuvant. EAE and MS are similar diseases.

Honey Bee venom (Apis mellifera) contains a variety of low and high molecular weight peptides and proteins, including melittin, apamin, adolapin, mast cell degranulating peptide and phospholipase A2. Bee venom (BV) could exert anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive effects on the inflammatory reactions.

The guinea pig spinal cord homogenate (GPSCH) is with the Complete Freund's Adjuvant (CFA), consisting of 1 mg/mL Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It was used for inducting EAE in Lewis rats for creating the MS model. The hematoxylin and eosin and luxol fast blue methods were used respectively in analyses of inflammation and detection of demyelination in the central nervous system. Furthermore, the ELISA and the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) were used for the assessment of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and nitrate in rats serum.

In this study, we indicated that the treatment of EAE with Bee venom decreased the symptoms of clinical disorder, pathological changes, inflammatory cell infiltration, demyelination in the central nervous system, level of serum TNF-α, and the serum nitrates in rat EAE induced through GPSCH.