New research, conducted by scientists from Korea and Australia, paves the way for a new treatment for atopic dermatitis, by testing the effect of bee venom and its major component, melittin, on mice and human cells.
Hyun-Jin An et al found that bee venom and melittin possess potent anti-atopic activities. Image credit: Charles J. Sharp / CC BY-SA 3.0.
Atopic dermatitis, commonly known as atopic eczema, is a multifactorial skin disease, with complex interactions of innate and adaptive immune responses based on a genetic, pharmacological, and psychological predisposition.
Many commercial formulations for the treatment of this disease are available in gels, creams, lotions, or ointments but show limited effectiveness.
Furthermore, there are several treatment approaches for atopic dermatitis, such as topical glucocorticosteroids, emollients, phototherapies, calcineurin inhibitors, and immunosuppressants, such as cyclosporine A.
These therapies reduce inflammation, but they also cause various side effects.
“There are several studies on natural materials or toxins, such as herbs, ginseng extract, and snake venom, for atopic dermatitis treatment,” said Catholic University of Daegu’s Professor Kwan-Kyu Park and co-authors.
“However, bee venom and melittin-mediated atopic dermatitis treatment has rarely been studied.”
Bee venom is a natural toxin produced by honeybees (Apis mellifera). It contains various peptides, including melittin, apamin, adolapin, and mast cell degranulating peptide along with enzymes, biological amines, and nonpeptide components.
Melittin, the major component (50% of dry weight) of bee venom, is a small linear peptide composed of 26 amino acids.
Through studies conducted in mice and human cells, Professor Park and his colleagues from Catholic University of Daegu, Korea’s National Academy of Agricultural Science and Charles Sturt University found that bee venom and melittin suppress inflammation through various mechanisms on immune cells and inflammatory molecules.
“We demonstrated that bee venom and melittin have immunomodulatory activity, and such activity was associated with the regulation of T helper cell differentiation, thereby ameliorating the inflammatory skin diseases caused by atopic dermatitis,” they said.
“Our results suggest that bee venom and melittin would be suitable for epicutaneous application, as topical administration is often appropriate for the treatment of atopic dermatitis.”
The findings were published online September 5 in the British Journal of Pharmacology.
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Hyun-Jin An et al. Therapeutic effects of bee venom and its major component, melittin, on atopic dermatitis in vivo and in vitro. British Journal of Pharmacology, published online September 5, 2018; doi: 10.1111/bph.14487
