Honey Bee Products: Preclinical and Clinical Studies of Their Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Properties

Hesham R El-Seedi; Nehal Eid; Aida A Abd El-Wahed; Mostafa E Rateb; Hanan S Afifi; Ahmed F Algethami; Chao Zhao; Yahya Al Naggar; Sultan M Alsharif; Haroon Elrasheid Tahir; Baojun Xu; Kai Wang; Shaden A M Khalifa

doi:10.3389/fnut.2021.761267

Honey Bee Products: Preclinical and Clinical Studies of Their Anti-inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Properties

Front Nutr. 2022 Jan 3:8:761267. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.761267. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Hesham R El-Seedi^{1

2

3

4}, Nehal Eid⁴, Aida A Abd El-Wahed⁵, Mostafa E Rateb⁶, Hanan S Afifi⁷, Ahmed F Algethami⁸, Chao Zhao⁹, Yahya Al Naggar^{10

11}, Sultan M Alsharif¹², Haroon Elrasheid Tahir¹³, Baojun Xu¹⁴, Kai Wang¹⁵, Shaden A M Khalifa¹⁶

Affiliations

¹ Pharmacognosy Group, Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Biomedical Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
² International Research Center for Food Nutrition and Safety, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China.
³ International Joint Research Laboratory of Intelligent Agriculture and Agri-Products Processing, Jiangsu Education Department, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Menoufia University, Shebeen El-Kom, Egypt.
⁵ Department of Bee Research, Plant Protection Research Institute, Agricultural Research Centre, Giza, Egypt.
⁶ School of Computing, Engineering & Physical Sciences, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, United Kingdom.
⁷ Food Research Section, R&D Division, Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority (ADAFSA), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
⁸ Alnahalaljwal Foundation Saudi Arabia, Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ College of Food Science, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, China.
¹⁰ General Zoology Group, Institute for Biology, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany.
¹¹ Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt.
¹² Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Medina, Saudi Arabia.
¹³ School of Food and Biological Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China.
¹⁴ Programme of Food Science and Technology, BNU-HKBU United International College, Zhuhai, China.
¹⁵ Institute of Apicultural Research, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China.
¹⁶ Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden.

Abstract

Inflammation is a defense process triggered when the body faces assaults from pathogens, toxic substances, microbial infections, or when tissue is damaged. Immune and inflammatory disorders are common pathogenic pathways that lead to the progress of various chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. The overproduction of cytokines, such as interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor-α, is an essential parameter in the clinical diagnosis of auto-inflammatory diseases. In this review, the effects of bee products have on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases are discussed with respect to the current literature. The databases of Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Sci-Finder and clinical trials were screened using different combinations of the following terms: "immunomodulatory", "anti-inflammatory", "bee products", "honey", "propolis", "royal jelly", "bee venom", "bee pollen", "bee bread", "preclinical trials", "clinical trials", and "safety". Honey bee products, including propolis, royal jelly, honey, bee venom, and bee pollen, or their bioactive chemical constituents like polyphenols, demonstrate interesting therapeutic potential in the regulation of inflammatory mediator production as per the increase of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, Il-2, and Il-7, and the decrease of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Additionally, improvement in the immune response via activation of B and T lymphocyte cells, both in in vitro, in vivo and in clinical studies was reported. Thus, the biological properties of bee products as anti-inflammatory, immune protective, antioxidant, anti-apoptotic, and antimicrobial agents have prompted further clinical investigation.

Keywords: bee products; cancer; diabetes; hypertension; inflammation; preclinical and clinical studies; safety.

Publication types

Review