Objective : Bee venom (BV) has traditionally been used in Oriental medicine to relieve pain and to treat inflammatory disease such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Autoimmunity to type Ⅱ collagen (CII) may involve in the pathogenesis of RA. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of BV on type Ⅱ collagen induced arthritis (CIA) with the naked eye, a immunohistochemical method and the examination of histology.
Method : Male mice were immunized by subcutaneously injection of an 200㎍emulsion mixed with bovine CII and complete Freund´s adjuvant (CFA) twice for two weeks. In the control group, normal saline was injected, and in the experimental group, BV was applied.
Result : The incidence of arthritis, the mean arthritis index and the number of the arthritic limbs of the BV group were all significantly lower than those of the control group. Among the pro-inflammatory cytokines, the production of TNF-a in the BV group was also suppressed compared with the control group, but IL-10 was not. The examination on the histopathology of joints of CIA mice showed the effect of Bee Venom Herbal Acupuncture on the arthritis.
Conculusion : Treatment with BV resulted in inhibition of development of arthritis and immune responses to CII.
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