A royal jelly as a new potential immunomodulator in rats and mice

• Published in: Comparative immunology, microbiology and infectious diseases microbiology and infectious diseases, 1996, Vol.19 (1), p.31-38
• Main Authors: Šver, Lidija, Oršolić, Nada, Tadić, Zoran, Njari, Bela, Valpotic, Ivica, Bašic, Ivan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adjuvants, Immunologic; Animals; Antibody Formation; Apis mellifera; B-Lymphocytes - immunology; B-Lymphocytes - metabolism; Biological and medical sciences; Blood Proteins - analysis; Erythrocytes - immunology; Fatty Acids - administration & dosage; Fatty Acids - immunology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; gelée royale; Hemolytic Plaque Technique; Immunity, Cellular; Immunization; Immunobiology; Immunomodulation; Immunomodulators; Lymph Nodes - cytology; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred CBA; Modulation of the immune response (stimulation, suppression); mouse; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; rat; Rats; royal jelly; souris; Species Specificity; Spleen - cytology
• ISSN: 0147-9571; 1878-1667
• DOI: 10.1016/0147-9571(95)00020-8

In order to study a possible immunomodulatory effect of the royal jelly (RJ) secreted by mandibular and hypopharingeal glands of the worker honeybee ( Apis mellifera Linné.) we have used a well established rodent model. The CBA mice were given s.c. 0.1 ml of RJ, 7 days before, or immediately after, the immunization with sheep red blood cells (SRBC). The Y59 rats received i.m. 0.4 ml or i.v. 0.025 ml of RJ once or twice at 7 day intervals. Serum levels of total proteins and immunoglobulins in the rats that received RJ once or twice within a 2-week-period were significantly lower ( P ⩽ 0.05) as compared with the nontreated animals. In mice which were immunized with 4 × 10 8 of SRBC 7 days after the application of RJ the number of plaque forming splenocytes was significantly higher ( P ⩽ 0.05) than that in the controls. Both the weight of inguinal lymph node and the number of peripheral blood lymphocytes were increased ( P ⩽ 0.05) in RJ-treated mice 3 or 5 days after the immunization, respectively. Neutrophils were decreased ( P ⩽ 0.05) in the mice that were killed 5 or 10 days after the RJ treatment. Overall these results indicate that RJ exhibited immunomodulatory properties by stimulating antibody production and immunocompetent cell proliferation in mice or depressing humoral immune functions in rats. Both phenomena, though species-related in this model, could probably be reversed by changing the dose or the route of RJ application. Pour pouvoir étudier les possibles effets immunomodulateurs de la gelée royale (GR) secretée par les glandes sous-pharingées des abeilles ( Apis mellifera Linné.), nous avons utilisé un modèle de rongeur bien établi. Des souris CBA ont reçu 0.1 ml s.c. de GR, immédiatement ou 7 jours aprés l'immunisation avec des globules rouges du sang ovin (GRSO). Des rats Y59 ont reçu 0.4 ml i.m. ou 0.0025 ml i.m. de GR, une ou deux fois à intervalle de 7 jours. Le niveau des protéines totales et des immunoglobulines dans le serum des rats qui ont reçu les GR, une ou deux fois pendant une période de 2 semaines a subi, en comparaison avec les animaux qui n'ont rien reçu, une diminution significative ( P ⩽ 0.05) chez les souris immunisées avec 4 × 10 8 deGRSO, le nombre des splénocytes formant plaque d'hémolyse était significativement plus élevé ( P ⩽ 0.05) par rapport aux témoins. Le poids des noeuds lymphatiques inguinaux et le nombre des lymphocytes sanguins périphériques a augmenté ( P ⩽ 0.05) chez les souris traitées avec la CR, et sacrif