Synergistic effects induced by combined treatments of aqueous extract of propolis and venom

Authors

  • Flaviu Drigla
  • Ovidiu Balacescu
  • Simona Visan
  • Simona Elena Bisboaca
  • Ioana Berindan-Neagoe
  • Liviu Alexandru Marghitas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15386/cjmed-527

Keywords:

propolis, venom, breast cancer, apoptosis

Abstract

Background and aims. Breast cancer is a heterogeneous disease and the leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered to be one of the most aggressive breast neoplasia due to failure of chemotherapy response. Thus, there is an urgent need of finding alternative therapies for TNBC. This study was designed to evaluate the synergistic effect induced by propolis and bee venom on luminal (MCF-7) and TNBC (Hs578T) cell lines.

Methods. In order to evaluate the synergistic effect of aqueous extract of propolis and bee venom, we treated in combination two breast cancer cell lines: MCF-7(luminal subtype) and Hs578T (TNBC subtype).

Results. Our results indicate that both cell lines exhibited similar sensitivity to the aqueous extract of propolis at a dilution of 0.072-0.09 mg/ml. The results concerning IC50 forbee venom on MCF-7 cells was 1 mg/ml, 20 times higher than 0.05 mg/ml in Hs578T cells. By combining the aqueous extract of propolis with bee venom, we obtained synergistic effects at a higher concentration, which was 5 and 2 times stronger than the two treatments alone.

Conclusion. Overall, the results from our study indicated that the combination of aqueous extract of propolis and bee venom treatments induced synergistic antiproliferative effects in a concentration-dependent manner in breast cancer cells. Thus we can hypothesize that the combination of honeybee propolis and venom might be involved in signaling pathways that could overcome cells resistance to therapy.


Author Biographies

Flaviu Drigla, The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Faculty of Animal Science and Biotechnologies, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Department of Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Experimental Pathology

Department of Apiculture and Sericulture

Ovidiu Balacescu, The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Department of Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Experimental Pathology

Simona Visan, The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Department of Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Experimental Pathology

Department of Pathologic Anatomy, Necropsy and Veterinary Forensic Medicine

Simona Elena Bisboaca, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Department of Veterinary Toxicology

Ioana Berindan-Neagoe, The Oncology Institute “Prof. Dr. Ion Chiricuta”, Cluj-Napoca, Romania "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania "Iuliu Hatieganu" University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania MD Anderson Cancer Center

Department of Functional Genomics, Proteomics and Experimental Pathology

Department of Immunology 

Research Center for Functional Genomics, Biomedicine and Translational Medicine

Department of Experimental Therapeutics, Houston, Texas , USA

Liviu Alexandru Marghitas, Faculty of Animal Science and Biotechnologies, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Department of Apiculture and Sericulture

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Published

2016-02-02

How to Cite

1.
Drigla F, Balacescu O, Visan S, Bisboaca SE, Berindan-Neagoe I, Marghitas LA. Synergistic effects induced by combined treatments of aqueous extract of propolis and venom. Med Pharm Rep [Internet]. 2016 Feb. 2 [cited 2025 Oct. 5];89(1):104-9. Available from: https://medpharmareports.com/index.php/mpr/article/view/527

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Section

Original Research