TOXIC AND PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF ROYAL JELLY IN NORMAL AND DISEASED MICE

Abstract

A single subcutaneous injection of 1 ml royal jelly into each of 27 female mice killed 17 of them within 2 days. One milliliter of royal jelly exerted this lethal effect both in its normally acid state and when neutralized. Miliary haemorrhages without leukocytic or lymphocytic infiltration were found in the brains of mice 7 hours after injection with 1 ml royal jelly. Similar injections of 1 ml of such osmotically active substances as 20% egg albumin or 80% sucrose into groups of 10 mice failed to kill any mice within 20 days. Nor did any deaths result when 1 ml of a protein–carbohydrate–saline mixture with a percentage composition and osmolal concentration similar to that of royal jelly was injected into each of 10 mice.A 0.1-ml quantity of royal jelly injected daily significantly shortened life span in mice previously injected with Ehrlich's ascites tumor or with a transplantable lymphatic leukemia from AKR mice. On the other hand, 0.1 ml royal jelly injected once a week significantly prolonged life in "high leukemia" male AKR mice.Daily injection into normal mice of 0.1 ml royal jelly for several weeks significantly increased the weight of the adrenals and simultaneously significantly increased the weight of the lymphatic tissue, an action which distinguishes royal jelly from all other known adrenal-stimulating agents. This dose did not cause loss of body weight, and in one experiment even stimulated it.The survival of normal young (but not normal old) mice in the cold (0 to 3 °C) was significantly prolonged by daily injection of 0.001 ml royal jelly administered before and during exposure to cold, but not by 0.1 or 0.01 ml; 0.001 or 0.0001 ml royal jelly administered before, but not during, exposure to cold failed to protect mice against cold.