Investigation of cytotoxic effects of bee venom on cancer cells

Apitherapy is a term that refers to a wide range of treatment methods by bee products and is included in traditional and complementary medicine. Bee venom (apitoxin) is an important mixture providing self-defense of honey bees. This is also a promising natural mixture for treatment of range diseases such cancer, as it has a high biological activity potential. The compound is composed of low molecular weight proteins and peptides. The contents of bee venom may vary according to geography and bee species. In this study, the effects of bee venom of Anatolian honey bee on cytotoxicity and epigenetic properties in cancer cells including metastatic breast cancer (MDA-MB-231) and liver cancer (HepG2) cell lines were investigated compared to healthy fibroblast (NIH/3T3) cells. The cytotoxic effect of bee venom was analyzed using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT). Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) was analyzed by MitoTracker staining and the profiles of apoptotic and necrotic cells were investigated by annexin V/PI using flow cytometer. The findings showed that the bee venom used in the study destroyed cancer cells more selectively than normal cells, mitochondrial membrane potential that is one of the important parameters for the activity of mitochondria varied in cells after bee venom and cell sizes and cell granularity decreased, namely cellular morphology differed By obtaining positive findings, the cytotoxic potential of bee venom on metastatic breast and liver cancer was determined. The findings will provide important data in terms of alternative and complementary medicine and thus will lead to a more effective evaluation of this natural product belonging to the region.