This paper contents a summery about physicochemical composition of frash and lyophilized royal jelly. Royal jelly (RJ) is a yellowish and creamy secretion from hypo pharyngeal and mandibular glands ...of young worker bees (Apis mellifera L.) to feed all larvae for the first three days of their life and the queen bee for both her larval life and adulthood.. Royal jelly is a honey bee secretion that is used in the nutrition of the larvae. Queen bees are made, not born, and their feeding with royal jelly is the key to that process. The geographical authenticity of royal jelly can be determined also by pollen analysis (Ricciardelli d'Albore et al., 1978; Ricciardelli d'Albore, 1986). The physicochemical composition of pure royal jelly are analyzed by determining moisture, ash, lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, 10-HDA; and for lyophilized royal jelly are analyzed by determining ash, lipids, protein, carbohydrates, 10-HDA, sugars. 10-HDA content is the criteria of royal jelly quality analysis and it is a freshness parameter(Antinelli J.F., Sarah Zeggane, Renee Davico, Catherine Rognone, Jean Paul Faucon, Louisette Lizzani).
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•Antioxidant capacity of Apis mellifera major royal jelly proteins (AmMRJPs) was assayed.•AmMRJPs reduce caspase-3 activity and oxidative stress-induced cell apoptosis.•AmMRJPs ...exhibit DPPH radical-scavenging activity.•mMRJPs protect against oxidative DNA damage.
Major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs) of honeybee royal jelly (RJ) exhibit antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Although MRJPs of Apis mellifera RJ (AmMRJPs) responsible for antibacterial activity have been identified, AmMRJPs with antioxidant effects remain to be elucidated. Here we identified and compared the antioxidant activities of purified recombinant AmMRJPs 1–7, which are expressed in baculovirus-infected insect cells. Antioxidant assays of recombinant AmMRJPs 1–7 against H2O2 revealed that AmMRJPs reduce caspase-3 activity and oxidative stress-induced cell apoptosis and lead to increased cell viability. Consistent with these results, AmMRJPs 1–7 exhibit 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging activity and protect against oxidative DNA damage. These results indicate that AmMRJPs play a role as antioxidants in A. mellifera RJ.
Few studies on royal jelly's (RJ) antiviral activities and toxicity have been conducted. Here, we investigated the antioxidant properties of RJ that was fractionated into soluble fraction (SF), ...non-soluble fraction (NSF), water-soluble protein fraction (crude protein fraction, CPF), PF
, PF
, PF
, and PF
. The PFs were identified by SDS-PAGE, and phenolic constituents of SF were detected by HPLC. The qualitative anti-HCV, immunomodulatory, and predicted impact of the studied fractions on ERK2/MAPK14 (activated by HCV) were investigated. The influences of RJ fractions on HIV CD4, reverse-transcriptase, and integrase were examined. The acute toxicity of RJ, SF, NSF, and CPF-PF
(all CPF except PF
) was tested. Results showed that RJ had potent antioxidant efficiency, and its SF contains functional phenolic compounds. PF
, PF
, and PF
only showed anti-HCV potency, and PF
had an immunomodulatory effect against HCV and predicted inhibitory influence on ERK2/MAPK14. RJ-PFs, particularly PF
, showed the most effective anti-HIV ingredients. A single ip injection of RJ fractions at different concentrations revealed that SF was the safest one. Whereas NSF was the most toxic at 700-5000 mg/kg b.w., its toxicity was reversed spontaneously after seven days. Thus, this study provides valuable information about the antiviral activities and toxicity of RJ constituents.
Macrophages produce many inflammatory mediators, such as tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), in innate immune responses. However, excess production of these mediators by ...activated macrophages triggers deleterious effects, leading to disorders associated with inflammation. Royal jelly (RJ), a milky-white substance secreted by worker bees, contains unique fatty acids, including 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10H2DA) and sebacic acid (SA). 10H2DA has been reported to have various biological functions, such as anti-inflammation. However, the anti-inflammatory effect of SA is not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of SA on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine expression using differentiated human THP-1 macrophage-like cells. SA dose-dependently decreased LPS-induced mRNA expression of IL-6, but not TNF-α and IL-1β. SA suppressed the phosphorylation of signal transducers and activators of transcription 1 (STAT1) and STAT3, but hardly affected the activation of JNK, p38, or NF-κB. In addition, SA decreased LPS-induced interferon-β (IFN-β) expression, and the addition of IFN-β restored the inhibition by SA of LPS-induced STAT activation and IL-6 expression. Furthermore, SA suppressed LPS-induced nuclear translocation of interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), a transcription factor responsible for IFN-β expression. Taken together, we conclude that SA selectively decreases LPS-induced expression of IL-6 mRNA through inhibition of the IRF3/IFN-β/STAT axis.
Honey bees are crucial for pollination services globally and produce important hive products including honey, royal jelly, pollen, and propolis that are being used commercially in food, cosmetics, ...and alternative medicinal purposes. Among the bee products, royal jelly (RJ) has long attracted scientists' interest because of its importance in honey caste differentiation. The present research was carried out to determine the acceptance rate of queen cells, and RJ production between the hygienic and non-hygienic lines. Further, this study unveils the effect of pollen substitute diets on the queen cell acceptance rate and RJ yields between both bee stocks. Results showed that the uncapped brood cells and dead brood's removal percentage was significantly more in hygienic bee colonies in comparison to non-hygienic bee colonies (p < 0.05). The average percentage of larval acceptance was statistically higher in hygienic lines (64.33 ± 2.91%) compared to non-hygienic lines (29.67 ± 1.20%). Similarly, the RJ mean weight per colony differed statistically between both bee stocks (p<0.001), which were 12.23 ± 0.52 g and 6.72 ± 0.33 g, respectively. Moreover, our results demonstrated that a significant difference was observed in larval acceptance rate, RJ yields (per colony and per cup) between both bee stocks those fed on various diets. However, no significant difference was recorded in RJ yields (per colony and per cup) between both bee stock that feeds on either commercially available pollen or pollen substitute. This study may provide future applications in helping bee breeders to choose the bees that carry a higher level of hygienic behavior with high RJ production traits.
Forty-two healthy adult male rats (Wistar albino, n = 42, 8 weeks old, starting weights 200–250 g) employed in this study were subdivided into six groups randomly with seven rats per group as ...follows: (i) Control group: received standard diet; (ii) RJ group: received standard diet supplemented with royal jelly; (iii) F50 group: received standard diet supplemented with fluoride (50 mg/kg BW); (iv) F100 group: received standard diet supplemented with fluoride (100 mg/kg BW); (v) F50 +RJ group: received standard diet supplemented with fluoride (50 mg/kg BW) and royal jelly; (iv) F100 +RJ group: received standard diet supplemented with fluoride (100 mg/kg BW) and royal jelly. The study continued for a total of eight weeks. Western blot analysis was conducted to determine the post-translational expression levels of NF-κB, Bax, Bcl-2, TNF-α, Caspase-3 and Caspase-6 proteins in pancreas tissue. The pancreatic tissue was subjected to histopathological evaluation. Furthermore, MDA, GSH and CAT activities were examined by spectrophotometric analyzes. Our findings demonstrate that, compared to the control and RJ groups, Bcl-2 protein expression was augmented and, conversely, Caspase-6, Caspase-3 and Bax protein levels were decreased upon fluoride treatment. A statistically significant increase in TNF-α and NF-κB protein expressions was observed in the groups with fluoride-induced damage compared to the control and RJ groups. The MDA levels were increased in all fluoride-treated rats compared to those in the control and RJ groups, whereas the CAT and GSH activities were reduced in all rats with fluoride- induced damage. Although there was not a great difference between the groups regarding histopathological findings, there was a tendency to decrease in the rate of damage upon royal jelly treatment.
•Royal jelly (RJ) protects pancreas tissue against fluoride induced pancreas damage.•RJ up-regulates the expression of Bax, caspase-3 and caspase-6, down-regulates the expression of NF-κB, Bcl-2 and TNF-α proteins.•RJ increases GSH level, CAT activity and decreases MDA level in pancreas damage.
ABSTRACT
In the honeybee, Apis mellifera, the queen larvae are fed with a diet exclusively composed of royal jelly (RJ), a secretion of the hypopharyngeal gland of young worker bees that nurse the ...brood. Up to 15% of RJ is composed of proteins, the nine most abundant of which have been termed major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs). Although it is widely accepted that RJ somehow determines the fate of a female larva and in spite of considerable research efforts, there are surprisingly few studies that address the biochemical characterisation and functions of these MRJPs. Here we review the research on MRJPs not only in honeybees but in hymenopteran insects in general and provide metadata analyses on genome organisation of mrjp genes, corroborating previous reports that MRJPs have important functions for insect development and not just a nutritional value for developing honeybee larvae.
We previously reported that royal jelly proteins (RJPs) hydrolyzed with protease N show the strong antioxidative activity against the peroxidation of linoleic acid. In this study, 29 antioxidative ...peptides were isolated from hydrolysate by membrane ultrafiltration, anion-exchange chromatography, gel filtration chromatography, and reverse-phase high performance liquid chromatography. We particularly focused on 12 small peptides with 2–4 amino acid residues: these structures were identified as Ala-Leu, Phe-Lys, Phe-Arg, Ile-Arg, Lys-Phe, Lys-Leu, Lys-Tyr, Arg-Tyr, Tyr-Asp, Tyr-Tyr, Leu-Asp-Arg, Lys-Asn-Tyr-Pro. Analysis of the antioxidative properties of these peptides revealed strong hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, but neither metal-chelating activity nor superoxide-anion radical scavenging activity differed significantly among these peptides. Moreover, three dipeptides (Lys-Tyr, Arg-Tyr, and Tyr-Tyr) containing Tyr residues at the C-terminal had strong hydroxyl-radical and hydrogen-peroxide scavenging activity. This suggests that the antioxidant properties of these peptides are due to a combination of these abilities to act as free-radical scavengers. Three tyrosyl dipeptides containing Tyr residues at their C-termini (Lys-Tyr, Arg-Tyr, and Tyr-Tyr) have phenolic hydroxyl groups, which scavenge the free radicals via the mechanism of donating a hydrogen atom from their hydroxyl group.
Royal jelly (RJ) is a well-known functional and medicinal food for human health promotion. Major royal jelly proteins (MRJPs), which are the major protein components in RJ, exhibit antimicrobial ...activities. However, the identities of the MRJPs of RJ responsible for its antioxidant effects have remained unclear. Here, we report that honeybee (Apis cerana) MRJP 2 (AcMRJP2) acts as an antimicrobial and antioxidant agent in RJ. Using recombinant AcMRJP2, which was produced in baculovirus-infected insect cells, we established the antimicrobial and antioxidant roles of MRJP 2. AcMRJP2 bound to the surfaces of bacteria, fungi, and yeast, which then induced structural damage in the microbial cell walls and led to a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activities. AcMRJP2 protected mammalian and insect cells via the direct shielding of the cell against oxidative stress, which led to reduced levels of caspase-3 activity and oxidative stress-induced cell apoptosis, followed by increased cell viability. Moreover, AcMRJP2 exhibited DNA protection activity against reactive oxygen species (ROS). Our data indicate that AcMRJP2 could play a crucial role as an antimicrobial agent and antioxidant in RJ, suggesting that MRJP 2 is a component responsible for the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of RJ.
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•Apis cerana major royal jelly protein 2 (AcMRJP2) exhibits antimicrobial activities.•AcMRJP2 protects insect and mammalian cells against oxidative stress.•AcMRJP2 exhibits DNA protection activity against reactive oxygen species (ROS).•AcMRJP2 acts as an antimicrobial agent and antioxidant in royal jelly.
Nowadays, royal jelly (RJ) has gained great interest as a functional food due to its valuable pharmacological effects. We investigated the therapeutic potency of combined protein fraction (PF50) of ...major RJ protein 2 and its isoform X1 on bleomycin (Bleo)-induced pulmonary injury in rats. Our study examined the impact of PF50 on pulmonary oxidative and inflammatory stress as well as smooth muscle alpha-actin (α-SMA). In addition, the predicted impacts of this PF on the activity of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)− 8 and 15-prostaglandin dehydrogenase (15-PGDH) and the E-type prostanoid 2 (EP2) and IL-13 α2 subunit (IL13α2R) receptors, were evaluated using molecular docking. The results showed that PF50 reduced pulmonary inflammatory cells and their secreted pro-inflammatory mediators, including NF-κB, IKK, IL-4, IL-6, and NO. Additionally, the levels of IgE and mucin were diminished after treatment with PF50. Moreover, PF50 treatment improved pulmonary oxidative stress indices such as lipid peroxidation, GSH, SOD, and GPX. The histopathological findings, chest conventional X-ray, and immunohistochemistry of α-SMA confirmed the ameliorating effect of PF50. The docking outcomes reported the probable competitive inhibitory influence of PF50 on MMP-8 and a postulated blocking effect on EP2 and IL13α2R. Thus, PF50 could be a novel approach for treating pulmonary injuries.
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•Protein fraction (PF) 50 was extracted from royal jelly.•PF50 had a therapeutic effect against bleomycin-induced lung injury in rats.•PF50 reduced pulmonary inflammation and oxidative stress in lung-injured rats.•PF50 improved pulmonary morphology and reduced α-SMA in lung-injured rats.•PF50 had predicted influences on MMP-8, EP2, IL-13, and IL13α2R.
