Effect of bee venom on experimental arthritis

Abstract

When rats are treated with whole bee venom adjuvant arthritis is prevented. Similar treatment with the major known fractions of bee venom (apamin, melittin, phospholipase A) does not suppress disease. Although bee venom treatment has no effect on numbers of peripheral lymphocytes, it does cause modest reduction in the antibody response to injected sheep red blood cells. Whole bee venom, but not its constituents alone, produces sustained elevation of serum corticosterone concentrations. In addition, bee venom therapy does not prevent adjuvant arthritis in adrenalectomized rats, indicating that disease suppression may be mediated via the pituitary adrenal axis. In contrast, treatment of adrenalectomized rats with prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) does protect against polyarthritis, suggesting that the effects of PGE1 and bee venom on adjuvant disease are not necessarily related.