Toxicological study of bee venom (Apis mellifera mellifera) from different regions of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Abstract

Samples of Apis mellifera mellifera venom from different hives in two regions of the Buenos Aires province and its pool were analyzed for their lethal potency, myotoxic, defibrinogenating, hemolytic and inflammatory-edematizing activity and for the histological alterations they produce in the heart, lungs, kidneys, skeletal muscle and liver of mice. In vitro studies focused on the venom's hemolytic activity in different systems and species (horse, man, sheep and rabbit), the cytotoxicity in cellular lines, and on the proteolytic and coagulant activity in plasma and fibrinogen. Hemolytic activity, either observed in vitro or in vivo, showed similar toxicity levels for all samples. Erythrocytes of different species varied in their sensitivity to the venom pool, equines being the most sensitive and sheep the most resistant to direct hemolytic action. Local and systemic myotoxicity was evidenced by either the elevation of serum creatine kinase and/or histopathological lesions, observed in different muscles. All samples caused significant pathological alterations; pulmonary, cardiac, renal and skeletal muscle lesions were substantive and can be related to the pathophysiological mechanisms of envenomation. The venoms from different apiaries and regions of the Buenos Aires province showed very similar toxicological characteristics. These results suggest that severity of envenomation in case of a swarming could therefore be more related to the number of bees than to the differential toxicity of the venom from different regions of the province. This is the first study on the toxicity and toxicological characteristics of Apis mellifera venom in Argentina.