Study on anti inflammatory effect of subcutaneous honey bee venom injection and dermal application of cream containing honey bee venom in adjuvant-induced arthritic rats

Honey bee sting is used in some societies as a treatment of inflammation in joint diseases such as arthritis. To investigate the effect of honey bee venom in reducing inflammation, we selected 30 male Wister rats which were divided in to 6 groups. Except group 1, all remaining groups received 0.5 ml of complete Freund’s adjuvant to induce arthritis. After 9 days, all animals that received adjuvant were suffering from acute inflammation in their joints especially in knee joint (tibia-tarsal region). Group 2 was not received any treatment. Group 3 was received only saline (0.05 ml) by subcutaneous injection at the site of inflammation. Group 4 received cream without any honey bee venom. Group 5 was received cream containing 200μg honey bee venom/gram of cream. Group 6 was received 0.05 ml solution containing freshly prepared 7 μg honey bee venom through subcutaneous injection at the site of inflammation. The parameters determined were, arthritis index score (redness, edema, stiffness in movement) and joint diameter, all the parameters were noted before and during experiment. Results obtained in this experiment shows that all animals that received complete freund’s adjuvant, suffered from acute inflammation, redness and difficulty in movement. Treatment by honey bee venom at mentioned dose could not reduce either the inflammation or difficulty in movement. This study brings a great doubt for using honey bee venom as an anti inflammatory drug.