The antiviral activities of Egyptian ethanolic propolis extract and honey bee venom against honey bees infected with multiple viruses in vitro

Abstract

The demand for using natural compounds as control methods for honey bee viruses have increased in recent decades. In this study, a chemical profile of honey bee venom (HBV) has been determined by FTIR spectroscopy and Egyptian ethanolic propolis (EP) extract by GC-MS and HPLC. Also, the enzymatic activities of HBV were determined. HBV and EP were tested for antiviral activity. The cytotoxicity and cell viability were evaluated using the MTT assay. The results revealed the first identification of methyl gallate and phthalic acid using GC-MS and HPLC. HBV and EP showed antiviral activity against honey bee cell lines infected with deformed wing virus, black queen cell virus, Varroa destructor virus-1 and Kakugo virus. Also, cell proliferation was determined after incubating with HBV and EP, cells were produced with no evidence of cell death up to 1 g/L for HBV and 5 g/L for EP, despite cytotoxicity that was determined at higher doses of both treatments. The data demonstrated that EP and HBV exhibited a significant reduction of all identified viruses in the cultured cell. These findings suggest that HBV and EP in low concentrations could be used as potential supplements and antiviral drugs in honey bee apiaries.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• Viruses
• antiviral drugs
• cell culture
• propolis
• Honey bee venom
• PCR sequencing
• cytotoxicity

Acknowledgments

The current research was carried out in the Molecular Biology lab of Cairo University’s Faculty of Science’s Department of Entomology. The authors generous the Italian National Research Council because of their adoption of this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Scientific Research Sector of Cairo University’s Faculty of Science.