Researchers Identify 185 Organic Compounds in Royal Jelly

The super-tonic effects of royal jelly are identified chromatically, along with their physiological benefits as a bactericide, a source of free amino acids and storage requirements for fresh royal jelly...

Gas Chromatographic-Mass Spectrometric Investigation of Volatile and Extractable Compounds of Crude Royal Jelly

J ChromatogrB Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci, 2011 Dec 30

Using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) followed by diethyl ether and methanol extraction, it was possible to isolate as many as 185 organic compounds out of 17 samples of crude royal jelly (RJ). Of the above compound number, 169 compounds were positively identified by means of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

The volatile fraction of RJ consists of 25 different compounds where approximately 47% of the total ion current (TIC) of volatile compound chromatograms were composed of substances characterized by bactericidal (phenols) and repelling (octanoic acid and 2-heptanone) activities. Preliminary investigations have shown that RJ stored for 10 months at -18°C and 4°C keeps its composition of volatile compounds unchanged, however, at the same time at room temperature RJ phenol contents is decreased twice, whereas the fraction of aliphatic acids is increased 2.8 times due to the presence of both acetic and butyric acids.

The chromatogram of RJ ether extracts showed 85 different compounds, however about 88% of TIC consisted exclusively of 8 compounds, i.e. 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic, 10-hydroxydecanoic, 3,10-dihydroxydecanoic, 8-hydroxyoctanoic, 2-decene-1,10-dioc and (Z)-9-hydroxy-2-decenoic acids. Nine aliphatic acids, which were detected for the first time, are the homologues of hydroxy- and oxo-acids identified earlier in RJ. In the RJ methanol extracts 82 compounds were identified, mainly carbohydrates and their derivatives.

Approximately 87% of TIC consisted of fructose, glucose and sucrose. Special attention was paid to discrepancies between obtained and literature data concerning the presence of free amino acids in RJ. It was suggested that these inconsistencies can be explained by the differences in the methods of RJ collection and/or sample preparation.

Conclusion:

► Volatile compounds of fresh royal jelly. 

► Bactericidal and repelling activities. 

► Markers of inappropriate storage. 

► Extractable compounds of royal jelly. 

► Possible source of free amino acids.

Honey Heals Better Than Traditional Burn Treatments

The statistics speak for themselves - honey heals better than SSD treatments used on burn patients - 18 days vs 32 days! In fact, the methodology is completely different. Typical burn unit protocols include scrubbing the wounds, a painful and scarring effect, aimed at keeping bacterial counts low. Honey dressing treatments allow wounds to remain moist, minimizing scarring.  While it may appear unattractive, the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of honey keeps wounds germ-free and speeds healing.

Honey Dressing Versus Silver Sulfadiazene Dressing for Wound Healing in Burn Patients: A Retrospective Study

J Cutan Aesthet Surg, 2011 Sep 4

OBJECTIVE:

The aim was to evaluate the effect of honey dressing and silver sulfadiazene (SSD) dressing on wound healing in burn patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: 

We retrospectively reviewed the records of 108 patients (14-68 years of age), with first and second degree burns of less than 50% of the total body surface area admitted to our institution, over a period of 5 years (2004-2008). Fifty-one patients were treated with honey dressings and 57 with SSD. Time elapsed since burn, site, percentage, degree and depth of burns, results of culture sensitivity at various time intervals, duration of healing, formation of post-treatment hypertrophic scar, and/or contracture were recorded and analyzed.

RESULTS:

The average duration of healing was 18.16 and 32.68 days for the honey and SSD group, respectively. Wounds of all patients reporting within 1 h of burns became sterile with the honey dressing in less than 7 days while there was none with SSD. All wounds treated with honey became sterile within 21 days while for SSD-treated wounds, this figure was 36.5%. A complete outcome was seen in 81% of all patients in the "honey group" while in only 37% patients in the "SSD group."

CONCLUSION:

Honey dressings make the wounds sterile in less time, enhance healing, and have a better outcome in terms of hypertropic scars and postburn contractures, as compared to SSD dressings.

Propolis May Help Treat Asthmatic Children

CAPE, a predominant compound found in propolis, has been identified to possess other important capacities:
 - antiviral (König and Dustmann, 1985)

 - anti-inflammatory (Bankova et al., 1983) 
 - antimetastatic activity against mammary carcinoma (Bašic et al., 1997)
 - anti-bacterial activity on gram-positive & negative micro-organisms (Villanueva et al., 1970, Cizmarik & Matel, 1970, 1973)

The Immunoregulatory Effects of Caffeic Acid Phenethyl Ester on the Cytokine Secretion of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells From Asthmatic Children

Pediatrics and Neonatology, Volume 52, Issue 6, December 2011, Pages 327-331

Background:

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease of the airways for which current treatments are mainly based on pharmacological interventions, such as glucocorticoid therapy. Our objective was to study the immunoregulatory effects of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE, a phytochemical synthesized from propolis) on cytokine secretion of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from asthmatic children.

Methods:

PBMCs from asthmatic children (5.5 ± 3.3 years old, n = 28) and healthy children (5.6 ± 2.8 years old, n = 23) were co-cultured with CAPE in vitro with and without phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-ionomycin.

Results:

Our results show that predominant interleukin 4 (IL-4) and interferon-gamma secretion of cultured supernatant were detected in healthy donors compared with asthmatics. In the presence of phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate-ionomycin, with or without CAPE treatment, the asthmatic children showed significantly decreased levels of IL-10 secretion compared with the healthy controls. However, CAPE significantly decreased IL-10 and interferon-gamma in healthy donors. There was a slight but not statistically significant reduction of IL-4 secretion in CAPE-treated PBMCs compared with untreated control PBMCs from the healthy children. Our data also shows that CAPE significantly enhanced transforming growth factor-beta 1 production from PBMCs from asthmatic children.

Conclusion:

The immunoregulatory effects of CAPE on human PBMCs may be through the induction of regulatory T cells, as evidenced by the enhanced transforming growth factor-beta 1 production from PBMCs from asthmatic children in our study.