Therapeutic Use of Bee Venom and Potential Applications in Veterinary Medicine
by
, , , and
Roberto Bava
1,2,†
,
Fabio Castagna
1,2,†
,
Vincenzo Musella
1,2
,
Carmine Lupia
1,3, 
Ernesto Palma
1,4,5,* and
Domenico Britti
1,2 1
Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro Magna Græcia, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
2
Interdepartmental Center Veterinary Service for Human and Animal Health, CISVetSUA, University of Catanzaro Magna Græcia, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
3
Mediterranean Ethnobotanical Conservatory, Sersale (CZ), 88054 Catanzaro, Italy
4
Nutramed S.c.a.r.l. Complesso Ninì Barbieri, Roccelletta di Borgia, 88021 Catanzaro, Italy
5
Department of Health Sciences, Institute of Research for Food Safety & Health (IRC-FISH), University of Catanzaro Magna Græcia, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work.
Vet. Sci. 2023, 10(2), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/vetsci10020119
Submission received: 30 December 2022
/
Revised: 23 January 2023
/
Accepted: 2 February 2023
/
Published: 4 February 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Veterinary Medical Education: Challenges and Perspectives)
Simple Summary
Bee products consist of many substances that have long been known for their medicinal and health-beneficial properties. Venom is certainly the one that has attracted the most interest due to the complexity of its chemical composition. Several types of research have been conducted utilizing biological (cellular) systems to figure out the properties of bee venom in vitro. Primarily, cell lines of various sorts and origins are used for this purpose. Afterward, experiments on murine models paved the way for clinical trials on humans. Therefore, there are numerous reviews summarising the uses of venom for human medicine, but none have focused on its use in veterinary medicine. This review aims to gather the relevant publications on the use of bee venom in veterinary medicine.
Abstract
Apitherapy is a branch of alternative medicine that consists of the treatment of diseases through products collected, processed, and secreted by bees, specifically pollen, propolis, honey, royal jelly, and bee venom. In traditional medicine, the virtues of honey and propolis have been well-known for centuries. The same, however, cannot be said for venom. The use of bee venom is particularly relevant for many therapeutic aspects. In recent decades, scientific studies have confirmed and enabled us to understand its properties. Bee venom has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, central nervous system inhibiting, radioprotective, antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal properties, among others. Numerous studies have often been summarised in reviews of the scientific literature that have focused on the results obtained with mouse models and their subsequent transposition to the human patient. In contrast, few reviews of scientific work on the use of bee venom in veterinary medicine exist. This review aims to take stock of the research achievements in this particular discipline, with a view to a recapitulation and stabilisation in the different research fields.
