Honeybees have been using the resin that protects tree buds from disease for preventative action in their hives. It's now recognized by humans for having therapeutic and preventative effects. I wonder what else we could learn from honey bees...
The good bioavailability by the oral route and good
historical safety profile makes propolis an ideal adjuvant agent for future
immunomodulatory or anticancer regimens. However, standardized quality controls
and good design clinical trials are essential before either propolis or its
active ingredients can be adopted routinely in our future therapeutic
armamentarium.
Clinical
Reviews in Allergy & Immunology
June 2013,
Volume 44, Issue 3, pp 262-273
Propolis, a
waxy substance produced by the honeybee, has been adopted as a form of folk
medicine since ancient times. It has a wide spectrum of alleged applications
including potential anti-infection and anticancer effects. Many of the
therapeutic effects can be attributed to its immunomodulatory functions. The
composition of propolis can vary according to the geographic locations from
where the bees obtained the ingredients.
Two main
immunopotent chemicals have been identified as caffeic acid phenethyl ester
(CAPE) and artepillin C. Propolis, CAPE, and artepillin C have been shown to
exert summative immunosuppressive function on T lymphocyte subsets but
paradoxically activate macrophage function. On the other hand, they also have
potential antitumor properties by different postulated mechanisms such as
suppressing cancer cells proliferation via its anti-inflammatory effects;
decreasing the cancer stem cell populations; blocking specific oncogene
signaling pathways; exerting antiangiogenic effects; and modulating the tumor
microenvironment.
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