Haha, AlfonsoR595, scooped me on posting about venom first, but that's okay because (fortunately) I was writing a post about how insect venom can be pro- and anti- inflammatory and it's potential uses. This is especially in response to all of the postings about rheumatoid arthritis, and adds to the therapies for multiple sclerosis that we touched on on Tuesday. Enjoy!
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How about ditching the pills and using "bugs as drugs"? A review article published this year in Alternative Medicine Review, briefly discusses Oriental medicine's traditional use of bee and ant venom for treating arthritis and inflammation-related pain. They report the accumulations of others’ findings that the constituents in insect venom have anti-inflammatory properties, including SUPPRESSION of phospholipase A (PLA releases arachidonic acid which can be modified in downstream events to form inflammatory mediators), DECREASE in inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α is a signaling molecule that promotes activation of NF-ĸB, which binds DNA and activates transcription of genes that result in inflammatory responses of heat, swelling, redness, pain, and loss of function in the local site), and REDUCTION in interleukin-1beta (IL-1β, when processed, can induce COX-2 which contributes to inflammatory pain hypersensitivity). In short, insect venom can inhibit various pathways that result in decreased inflammation.
However, I found this idea of using insect venom to combat inflammation to be very counter-intuitive, because don’t bee and ant venom induce inflammation and allergic reactions when you’re stung? After all, inducing pain, discomfort, and inflammation are these insects’ defense mechanisms so that a threatening intruder flees. Well, some of the peptides in the venom do directly mediate inflammation. One such molecule is mellitin, which accounts for 52% of whole insect venom and is implicated in inducing inflammation by lysing red blood cells. The insects’ defense mechanism also partially relies on your immune system’s reactivity. Many components of insect venom are immunoreactive and neuroactive peptides and your immune system will produce antibodies against them after the first sting, but usually without any serious symptoms the first time. Insect venom causes harm during repeated exposure to insect stings, when the body’s antibodies react to the presence of these foreign peptides and release histamines that cause inflammation, local immune cell response around the sting site, and the physical symptoms of an allergic reaction.
Interestingly, despite the apparent conflict in how it can be simultaneously pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory, insect venom has been widely studied and used in treating chronic inflammatory diseases, especially treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Some multiple sclerosis patients actually undergo live bee sting immunotherapy, and bee venom is sold in over 20 products including creams, ointments, salves, or injection forms for treating human ailments. Recent studies are also finding that bee venom can inhibit tumor growth and be used as a chemotherapeutic agent against malignancy.
E.P. Cherniack (2010). Bugs as Drugs, Part 1: Insects. The “New” Alternative Medicine for the 21st Century?
Since some of the components in bee sting venom are proinflammatory, has there been any work on isolating only the anti-inflammatory components and selectively using that extract as a treatment for inflammatory diseases? I agree that it is very counter-intuitive to use insect venom as an anti-inflammatory treatment, especially if one of the largest components of the venom, mellitin, induces inflammation. Is the overall anti-inflammatory effect deemed to be greater than the pro-inflammatory effect using lie bee stings?
ReplyDeleteFrom what I understand the mellitin is the precursor for cortisol, which is anti-inflammatory. I believe this is the component that leads to overall systemic effects of downregulated inflammation. Nonetheless, I agree. This is very counterintuitive. It would seem more beneficial to just isolate cortisol or somehow upregulate the body's secretion of it. I bet these people are the same ones that get a good feeling off of awkward things like tattoos and piercing :)
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