Affiliation:
1. Mashhad University of Medical Sciences
2. 17 th Shahrivar Hospital
3. Islamic Azad University
4. Birjand University of Medical Sciences
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Maintenance of a well-functioning immune system is a vital requirement to protect human body against pathogens/cancers. Natural compounds have long been used because of their benefits for the immune system. One of which is bee venom that contains a peptide called melittin having antimicrobial and anticancer effects. Since a limited number of studies regarding the effects of melittin on the immune system have been carried out, we aimed to evaluate the effects of melittin on BALB/c mice immune system parameters.
Methods: Female BALB /c mice were treated intraperitoneally (i.p) with 0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg doses of melittin for 14 days (5 doses per week). The negative control group received i.p normal saline whereas the positive control group received i.p 20 mg/kg cyclophosphamide (CYP). Immunological parameters such as hematological parameters, delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), hemagglutination titer (HA), spleen cellularity, splenocytes proliferation, as well as spleen and bone marrow histopathological assessment were evaluated.
Results: Our findings showed that melittin has no gross pathological effect on the spleen and bone marrow. It was also demonstrated that melittin has no any significant effect on hematological parameters. Melittin did not cause any significant changes to proliferation response of splenocytes to PHA and LPS, spleen cellularity, DTH response, as well as the production of anti-SRBC antibodies. The results showed that melittin at 0.75 and 1.5 mg/kg doses could not induce significant changes on immune parameters. Based on our results, melittin was found to be safe for the mice immune system.
Publisher
Research Square Platform LLC