Bee Venom May Help Prevent Cancer

Anti-mutagenic and synergistic cytotoxic effect of cisplatin and Honey Bee venom on 4T1 invasive mammary carcinoma cell line

Introduction: Honey Bee Venom (HBV) has various biological activities such as inhibitory effect on several types of cancer. Cisplatin is an old and potent drug to treat the most of cancer. Our aims in this study were determination of the anti-mutagenic and cytotoxic effects of HBV on mammary carcinoma.

Methods: 4T1 cell line was cultured in RPMI-1640 with 10% fetal bovine serum, at 37°C in humidified CO2-incubator. The cell viabilities were examined by MTT assay. HBV was screened for its anti-mutagenic activity against sodium azide by Ames test. The results were assessed by SPSS software and one-way ANOVA considering P < 0.05 level of significant. Results: The result showed that 6 ug/ml HBV, 20 ug/ml cisplatin and 6 ug/ml HBV with 10 ug/ml cisplatin can induce an approximately 50% 4T1 cell death. 7 mg/ml HBV with the inhibition of 62.76% sodium azide showed high potential in decreasing the mutagenic agents.

Conclusions: MTT assay demonstrated that HBV and cisplatin can cause cell death in a dose-dependent manner. The cytotoxic effect of cisplatin is also promoted by HBV. Ames test results indicated that HBV can inhibit mutagenic agent. Anti-mutagenic activity of HBV was increased significantly in presence of S9. Our findings reveal that HBV has cancer preventing effects.