engleski

Radioprotection of bee venom against microwave radiation induced DNA damage and oxidative stress in Wistar rat lymphocytes

Apis mellifera venom is used in traditional medicine to treat variety of conditions, such as arthritis, rheumatism, back pain and skin disease. In recent years it has been reported that bee venom possesses antimutagenic, anti-inflammatory, antinociceptive, and anticancer effects. In addition to the wide range of the bee venom’s activities, it also possesses a radioprotective capacity that was noted against X-ray and gamma radiation in various test systems. Due to the growing use of cellular phones, the proportion of the population exposed to microwave radiation is increasing. Added to this is the proportion of occupationally-exposed personnel, demonstrating the importance of studying the possible health risk of this type of radiation. If the risk of microwave radiation indeed exists, there is a need to find a radioprotective agent that is non-toxic to the cells. In that manner, the aim of this study was assessment of the radioprotective effect of whole bee venom against 915 MHz microwave radiation (SAR of 0.6 W/kg) induced DNA damage in the Wistar rat’s peripheral blood lymphocytes in vitro. The possible genotoxic effect of bee venom alone was also assessed on non-irradiated lymphocytes. For that purpose the alkaline comet assay was used as a sensitive tool in detection of DNA damage as described by Singh et al (1985). In addition to the standard protocol for the comet assay the Fpg modified comet assay was also used as a much more sensitive and specific technique in detection of DNA strand breaks and oxidative stress. Treatment with bee venom prior to radiation exposure and immediately before irradiation protected against significant DNA damage. Bee venom showed a decrease in DNA damage compared to irradiated samples. Parameters of Fpg-modified comet assay were statistically different from controls making this assay more sensitive, and suggesting that oxidative stress could be one of the possible mechanisms of DNA damage induction. In conclusion, bee venom has been demonstrated to have a radioprotective effect against basal and oxidative DNA damage. Within this context, bee venom could be considered as an effective and nontoxic radioprotector.

Bee venom; Microwave radiation; Rats peripheral blood lymphocytes; Radioprotection; Standard and modified comet assay

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