Apitoxin and Its Components against Cancer, Neurodegeneration and Rheumatoid Arthritis: Limitations and Possibilities

Natural products represent important sources for the discovery and design of novel drugs. Bee venom and its isolated components have been intensively studied with respect to their potential to counteract or ameliorate diverse human diseases. Despite extensive research and significant advances in rec...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inToxins Vol. 12; no. 2; p. 66
Main Authors Aufschnaiter, Andreas, Kohler, Verena, Khalifa, Shaden, Abd El-Wahed, Aida, Du, Ming, El-Seedi, Hesham, Büttner, Sabrina
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Switzerland MDPI 21.01.2020
MDPI AG
Subjects
Animals
Anti-Inflammatory Agents - chemistry
Anti-Inflammatory Agents - therapeutic use
Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use
apamin
apitoxin
Arthritis, Rheumatoid - drug therapy
bee venom
Bee Venoms - chemistry
Bee Venoms - therapeutic use
cancer
Humans
melittin
Neoplasms - drug therapy
neurodegeneration
Neurodegenerative Diseases - drug therapy
Neuroprotective Agents - chemistry
Neuroprotective Agents - therapeutic use
phospholipase A2
Review
rheumatoid arthritis
melittin
phospholipase A2
apitoxin
bee venom
neurodegeneration
cancer
rheumatoid arthritis
apamin
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ISSN2072-6651
2072-6651
DOI10.3390/toxins12020066

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Summary:Natural products represent important sources for the discovery and design of novel drugs. Bee venom and its isolated components have been intensively studied with respect to their potential to counteract or ameliorate diverse human diseases. Despite extensive research and significant advances in recent years, multifactorial diseases such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and neurodegenerative diseases remain major healthcare issues at present. Although pure bee venom, apitoxin, is mostly described to mediate anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic and neuroprotective effects, its primary component melittin may represent an anticancer therapeutic. In this review, we approach the possibilities and limitations of apitoxin and its components in the treatment of these multifactorial diseases. We further discuss the observed unspecific cytotoxicity of melittin that strongly restricts its therapeutic use and review interesting possibilities of a beneficial use by selectively targeting melittin to cancer cells.
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ISSN:2072-6651
2072-6651
DOI:10.3390/toxins12020066