Bee Propolis: Ancient Cure for Today

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Bee Propolis Ancient Cure for Todays Ailments

• By Dana Catalfamo

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Propolis

• Essentially the glue in bee hives.
• Made of plant resin.
• Preserves warmth in hive and keeps out microbes.
• Has various antimicrobial properties.
• Used for healing and part of apitherapy.
• Interesting uses including violin varnish.
• Used since the Ancient Greeks and Romans
  discovered it.

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Propolis in the Hive
(Kulincevica Gacica, 1991)
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Major Components

• Caffeic acid phenethyl ether or CAPE.
• Phenolics
• Terpenes
• Hydrocarbons
• Acids
• Flavonoids

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Properties of Propolis in General

• Stimulates antibody production.
• Inhibits viral entry into CD4 lymphocytes,
  especially against HIV-1.
• Increases effectiveness of antiviral drugs such
  as the reverse transcriptase inhibitor,
  zidovudine.
• Treats opportunistic infections that plague AIDS
  patients.
• Decreases lymphocyte proliferation when exposed
  to mitogens such as ConA.
• Increases production of IFN-? and activates
  macrophages.

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Interesting Properties of CAPE

• Inhibits Nuclear Transcription Factor KappaB or
  NF-?B, which drives T-cell proliferation and
  effector functions.
• Anti-inflammatory activity.
• Treats arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease,
  or IBD.
• Inhibits IL-2 which also drives T-cell
  proliferation.

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Different Geographical Samples of Propolis

• Not much of a difference in the effectiveness of
  propolis from different regions.
• Most common one studied is from Brazil and also
  from Bulgaria.

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Increased Antibody Production

• Propolis was shown to increase antibody
  production in rats immunized with bovine serum
  albumin, BSA.
• Acted as adjuvant.
• Enhanced the activity of macrophages.

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Increased Antibody Production
(Sforcin, Orsi, Bankova, 2005)
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Inhibition of NF-?B

• CAPE inhibited NF-?B binding to macrophages and
  decreased cytokine production.
• Tumor necrosis factor alpha, TNF-a, which
  stimulates macrophages to kill tumor cells was
  used to see if NF- ?B would bind.
• Anti-inflammatory activity.
• Macrophages underwent apoptosis in patients with
  IBD leading to healing of the injuries to the
  colon.

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Inhibition of NF-?B
(Fitzpatrick, Wang, Le, 2001)
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CAPE Induces Apoptosis in Macrophages in Patients
with IBD
(Fitzpatrick, Wang, Le, 2001)
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CAPE Reduces Injury to the Colon
(Fitzpatrick, Wang, Le, 2001)
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Inhibition of IL-2

• CAPE inhibited IL-2 leading to anti-inflammatory
  activity.
• T-cell proliferation was inhibited in samples
  with Con-A, a mitogen, added.

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Anti-viral Activity

• Viral entry of HIV-1 was inhibited in CD4
  lymphocytes.
• Effectiveness of the reverse transcriptase
  inhibitor, zidovudine, was increased.
• Virus was kept from proliferating.
• HUGE BREAKTHROUGH!!!!! ?

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Propolis Decreased Viral Expression in CD4 Cells
(Gekker, Hu, Spivak, Lokensgard, Peterson, 2005)
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Propolis Increases Effectiveness of Anti-viral
Drugs
(Gekker et. al, 2005)
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Treatment for AIDS Patients

• Propolis treats opportunistic fungal infections
  such as thrush and leukoplakia.
• Kept infections from coming back and alleviated
  symptoms.
• Increased the immune response.

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Increased Production of IFN-?

• Propolis increased IFN-? production leading to
  the antigen being presented on cells and the
  immune response starting to clear it faster.
• Mitogen infected cells did not show proliferation
  that would normally happen.
• Kept mitogen from working.

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Propolis Inhibits Mitogen Activity
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Pharmacology

• No recommended dose.
• Capsules, liquid, lozenges, tablets, creams,
  gels, toothpastes, mouth rinses, and cough
  syrups.
• Well tolerated unless a person is allergic to a
  component of propolis.
• If allergic, hives result.

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Summary

• Propolis is an effective anti-inflammatory agent.
• Can be used to help AIDS patients.
• Controls inflammatory diseases.
• Increases effectiveness of immune system.
• Mechanisms are not known yet.
• HERBAL MEDICINE IS GOOD!! ?
• Ancient cure for todays ailments.

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Works Cited

• Devillers, J., Pham-Delegue, M. (2002). Honey
  Bees Estimating the
• Environmental Impact of Chemicals. New York
  Taylor Francis Inc.
• Ellis, H. (2004). Sweetness Light. New York
  Harmony Books.
• Fitzpatrick, L.R., Wang, J., Le, T. (2001
  December). Caffeic acid phenethyl ester,
• an inhibitor of nuclear factor-KB, attenuates
  bacterial peptidoglycan poly-
• saccharide-induced colitis in rats. The Journal
  of Pharmacology and
• Experimental Therapeutics, (299(3), 915-920.
  Retrieved October 23, 2005,
• from PubMed database, On the World Wide Web
  http//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.
• gov/entrez
• Gekker, G., Hu, S., Spivak, M., Lokensgard, J.R.,
  Peterson, P.K. (2005, May).
• Anti-HIV-1 activity of propolis in CD4
  lymphocyte and microglial cellcultures. Journal
  of Ethnopharmacology, 102(1), 158-163.
  Retrieved September 2, 2005, from ScienceDirect
  database, On the World Wide Web
  http//www.sciencedirect.com
• Hubbell, S. (1988). A Book of Bees and How to
  Keep Them. New York
• Random House Inc.
• James, J.S. (1987, July 31). Bee Propolis for
  Thrush, Fungus or Leukoplakia?
• AIDS Treatment News, 1(37), Retrieved September
  19, 2005, from the
• World Wide Web http//www.aids.org/atn/a-037-01
  .html
• Kulincevica, J. Gacica, R. (1991). Propolis.
  Retrieved November 14, 2005,
• from the World Wide Web http//www.pcelar.co.yu
  /propolis.htm
• Marquez, N., Sancho, R., Macho, A., Calzado,
  M.A., Fiebich, B.L., Munoz, E.