The Sting and Parkinson’s

Dr. Weeks’ Comment: More clinical trials are needed for this intriguing remedy.

“Experimental and clinical studies showed that BVT could be an effective adjuvant treatment for PD.”

Bee venom for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease: How far is it possible?

Biomed Pharmaco . 2017 Jul;91:295-302.

doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2017.04.065. Epub 2017 May 4.

Abstract

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta leading to depletion of striatal dopamine and motor symptoms as bradykinesia, resting tremors, rigidity, and postural instability. Current therapeutic strategies for PD are mainly symptomatic and may cause motor complications, such as motor fluctuations and dyskinesia. Therefore, alternative medicine may offer an effective adjuvant treatment for PD. Bee venom therapy (BVT) has long been used as a traditional therapy for several conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, and skin diseases. Experimental and clinical studies showed that BVT could be an effective adjuvant treatment for PD.Several mechanisms were suggested for these findings including the ability of BVT to attenuate neuroinflammation, inhibit apoptosis of dopaminergic neurons, protect against glutamate-induced neurotoxicity, and restore normal dopamine levels in the nigrostriatal pathway. In this article, we reviewed and summarized the literature regarding the potential of BVT for the treatment of PD.

             Read entire article HERE

 

Future research on bee venom for Parkinson’s disease

This review shows that BV should be further investigated as a possible adjuvant treatment for PD. Despite the positive findings of the experimental and early clinical studies, there are only few published data regarding the efficacy of BV for PD. Our systematic search on PubMed retrieved 35 records. Another search on SCOPUS using the term (Bee venom AND Parkinson’s disease) yielded 323 documents.

Future Science OA . 2020 Nov 30;7(2):FSO642.

doi: 10.2144/fsoa-2020-0119.

Venoms as an adjunctive therapy for Parkinson’s disease: where are we now and where are we going?

    Free PMC article

    Abstract

    Neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD), are increasing in the aging population. Crucially, neurodegeneration of dopaminergic neurons in PD is associated with chronic inflammation and glial activation. Besides this, bradykinesia, resting tremor, rigidity, sensory alteration, and cognitive and psychiatric impairments are also present in PD. Currently, no pharmacologically effective treatment alters the progression of the disease. Discovery and development of new treatment strategies remains a focus for ongoing investigations. For example, one approach is cell therapy to prevent dopaminergic neuronal loss or to slow PD progression. The neuroprotective role of a diverse range of natural products, including venoms from bees, scorpions, snakes and lizards, are also being tested in preclinical PD models and in humans. The main findings from recent studies that have investigated venoms as therapeutic options for PD are summarized in this special report.

     

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