Physiological and Histological Studies on the Effect of Melittin on Mice Jejunum

Faiza Abdu^1*, Tarek Rahmy², Abeer Alahmari³ and Osama Abu-Zinadah¹

1Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 2 Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. 3Department of Biological Science, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.

DOI : http://dx.doi.org/10.13005/bbra/1101

ABSTRACT:

Melittin is a major polypeptide in honey bee venom that has been used traditionally against chronic inflammation and cancer. The aim of this work is study the effect of melittin on the mice jejunum from the physiological and histological points, then determine the safe dosage and duration on cells and tissues. Adult male mice (Albino Swiss) were divided into two groups (7 mice for each group): control group and melittin only treated group (10 and 40 µg/kg). The samples from the jejunum were collected and prepared for histological and physiological studies. Melittin has no cytotoxic effects, where the alcian blue stained sectioned showed the normal distribution of the mucous secreting cells and the levels of IL-1b in the jejunum mice treated with melittin (10 or 40 µg/kg) for 3 or 5 days were closed to control, whereas these levels were significantly decreased compared to control after treated for 10 days for each doses. These studies suggest that the using of melittin in small doses and short duration were safe and don’t cause any toxic effects on the jejunum tissue. Therefore, melittin might be effective in treatment of gastrointestinal diseases.

KEYWORDS: Melittin; gastrointestinal tract; IL-1b

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