Effect of Royal Jelly on Mouse Isolated Ileum and Gastrointestinal Motility

Royal Jelly: Biological Action and Health Benefits

Royal jelly (RJ) is a highly nutritious natural product with great potential for use in medicine, cosmetics, and as a health-promoting food. This bee product is a mixture of important compounds, such as proteins, vitamins, lipids, minerals, hormones, neurotransmitters, flavonoids, and polyphenols, that underlie the remarkable biological and therapeutic activities of RJ. Various bioactive molecules like 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), antibacterial protein, apisin, the major royal jelly proteins, and specific peptides such as apisimin, royalisin, royalactin, apidaecin, defensin-1, and jelleins are characteristic ingredients of RJ. RJ shows numerous physiological and pharmacological properties, including vasodilatory, hypotensive, antihypercholesterolaemic, antidiabetic, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-aging, neuroprotective, antimicrobial, estrogenic, anti-allergic, anti-osteoporotic, and anti-tumor effects. Moreover, RJ may reduce menopause symptoms and improve the health of the reproductive system, liver, and kidneys, and promote wound healing. This article provides an overview of the molecular mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of RJ in various diseases, aging, and aging-related complications, with special emphasis on the bioactive components of RJ and their health-promoting properties. The data presented should be an incentive for future clinical studies that hopefully will advance our knowledge about the therapeutic potential of RJ and facilitate the development of novel RJ-based therapeutic opportunities for improving human health and well-being.

Exploring the Therapeutic Potential of Royal Jelly in Metabolic Disorders and Gastrointestinal Diseases

Metabolic disorders, encompassing diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal disorders, etc., pose a substantial global health threat, with rising morbidity and mortality rates. Addressing these disorders is crucial, as conventional drugs often come with high costs and adverse effects. This review explores the potential of royal jelly (RJ), a natural bee product rich in bioactive components, as an alternative strategy for managing metabolic diseases. RJ exhibits diverse therapeutic properties, including antimicrobial, estrogen-like, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, anticancer, and antioxidant effects. This review's focus is on investigating how RJ and its components impact conditions like diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and gastrointestinal illnesses. Evidence suggests that RJ serves as a complementary treatment for various health issues, notably demonstrating cholesterol- and glucose-lowering effects in diabetic rats. Specific RJ-derived metabolites, such as 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA), also known as the "Queen bee acid," show promise in reducing insulin resistance and hyperglycemia. Recent research highlights RJ's role in modulating immune responses, enhancing anti-inflammatory cytokines, and suppressing key inflammatory mediators. Despite these promising findings, further research is needed to comprehensively understand the mechanisms underlying RJ's therapeutic effects.

Lyophilized royal jelly preparation in nanoscale and evaluation of its physicochemical properties and bactericidal activity

Royal jelly, due to its unique bioactive components, has special biological activities, but a great extent of its nutritional value is lost during processing and storage. Lyophilization, an effective preservation technique, can feasibly preserve the main bioactive compounds present in royal jelly. In this study, fresh royal jelly was subjected to the freeze-drying process at a pressure and temperature of 100 Pa and - 70°C, respectively, for 40 h. The results obtained indicated that the pH, turbidity, total phenol content, and antioxidant activity of the royal jelly powder (RJP), during 3 months of storage at ambient temperature (30°C), were constant with values of 4.30, 1.634 (%A.U.), 0.617 (g/L), and 28.7 (%), respectively. Moisture content of the prepared RJP was less than 1%, while that of the fresh royal jelly was 70%. Furthermore, for the fresh royal jelly, the mentioned parameters were significantly (p < .05) decreased after 2 months of storage at freezer temperature (-20°C). GC-MS analysis indicated that the amount of 10-hydroxy-2-decanoic acid (10H2DA) in RJP was 3.85 times more than that of fresh royal jelly. The obtained results also indicated that prepared RJP had a high bactericidal effect toward Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, with clear zone diameters of 12 and 15 mm, respectively. The present study provides a foundation for research on the potential application of prepared RJP and the development of dietary supplements and functional foods.

In vitro Study of Bifidobacterium lactis BL-99 With Fructooligosaccharide Synbiotics Effected on the Intestinal Microbiota

Probiotics and prebiotics relieve constipation by altering the composition of the intestinal microbiota. However, their synergistic mechanism of action remains unclear. Herein, an in vitro fermentation model was constructed to examine the synergistic effects of Bifidobacterium lactis BL-99 and fructooligosaccharide (FOS) on the regulation of intestinal microbiota from a population with constipation. The utilization of FOS was promoted by BL-99, and the increase rate being 22.33%. Relative to the BL-99 and the FOS groups, the BL-99_FOS group showed a highly significant increase in acetic acid content (P < 0.01) and a marked decrease in CO₂ and H₂S contents (P < 0.01) in the fermentation broth. In addition, the BL-99_FOS combination significantly changed the structure of the intestinal microbiota, enhanced the relative abundances of beneficial bacteria that relieved constipation, including Bifidobacterium, Fecalibacterium, Lactobacillus, Subdoligranulum, and Blautia, and decreased those of the harmful bacteria, including Bilophila and Escherichia-Shigella. These findings suggested that BL-99 and FOS synergistically regulated the composition and structure of the intestinal microbiota from the population with constipation and increased acetic acid and decreased CO₂ and H₂S levels, thereby providing a theoretical basis for the application of synbiotics.

Royal Jelly Protected against Dextran-Sulfate-Sodium-Induced Colitis by Improving the Colonic Mucosal Barrier and Gut Microbiota

Royal jelly (RJ) is a natural bee product that contains a variety of biologically active ingredients and has antitumor, antiallergic, antibacterial and immune-regulating effects. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the intestine that can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. With this study, we aimed to explore the protective effect of RJ on DSS-induced colitis in mice. The physiochemical parameters (water, protein, 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid, total sugar, starch, ash and acidity) of the RJ samples used in this study met the requirements of the international and Chinese national standards. Treatment with RJ improved symptoms and colonic cell apoptosis and decreased intestinal permeability by increasing the expression of tight-junction protein, goblet cells and their secretion mucin, MUC2, in DSS-induced ulcerative colitis mice. RJ also reduced the expression of proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 and increased the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 and sIgA. DSS resulted in an increase in the relative abundance of Parabacteroides, Erysipelotrichaceae, Proteobacteria (Gammaproteobacteria, Enterobacteriales and Enterobacteriaceae) and Escherichia Shigella in the colon and a decrease in the relative abundance of Muribaculum. In the RJ treatment group, the relative abundance of the above intestinal flora was improved by treatment with 2.0 g/kg RJ. These results suggested that RJ alleviated DSS-induced colitis by improving the colonic mucosal barrier.

The protective effects of yellow tea extract against loperamide-induced constipation in mice

Yellow tea, a rare type tea from China, has a rich breadth of functional ingredients and benefits the gastrointestinal tract. However, it is not clear whether the yellow tea extract can alleviate constipation. Therefore, we used loperamide-induced constipation in mice to evaluate the effects of yellow tea extract. Fifty Kunming mice were randomly divided into five groups: normal, model, low-dose yellow tea extract, low-dose yellow tea extract prevention group, and high-dose yellow tea extract prevention group. Mice were administered yellow tea extract for 5 weeks followed by loperamide-induced constipation for the final 2 weeks. The results showed that yellow tea extract alleviated constipation symptoms by improving the fecal water content, defecation weight, and gastrointestinal transit rate. Yellow tea extract intervention also protected colon tissue, regulated serum neurotransmitters, and decreased the vasoactive intestinal peptide level. Furthermore, qRT-PCR indicated that yellow tea extract regulated genes associated with the constipation state, raised 5-HT3 and 5-HT4 and reduced AQP3 and AQP4 mRNA expression. Moreover, we found that yellow tea extract changed the gut microbiota composition. Community diversity and richness were increased and principal co-ordinate analysis demonstrated that the yellow tea extract prophylaxis groups differed from the model group. Difference analysis indicated that yellow tea extract increased Roseburia, Lachnospiraceae_UCG-006, and Bifidobacterium and decreased norank_f_Clostridiales_vadinBB60_group, unclassified_o_Bacteroidales, and Bacteroides, which are correlated with constipation. Based on these results, we believe that regular yellow tea consumption can effectively alleviate constipation.

Apitherapy for Parkinson's Disease: A Focus on the Effects of Propolis and Royal Jelly

The vast increase of world's aging populations is associated with increased risk of age-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease (PD). PD is a widespread disorder characterized by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, which encompasses a wide range of debilitating motor, emotional, cognitive, and physical symptoms. PD threatens the quality of life of millions of patients and their families. Additionally, public welfare and healthcare systems are burdened with its high cost of care. Available treatments provide only a symptomatic relief and produce a trail of noxious side effects, which increase noncompliance. Hence, researchers have recently focused on the use of nutraceuticals as safe adjunctive treatments of PD to limit its progress and associated damages in affected groups. Propolis is a common product of the beehive, which possesses a large number of therapeutic properties. Royal jelly (RJ) is a bee product that is fed to bee queens during their entire life, and it contributes to their high physical fitness, fertility, and long lifespan. Evidence suggests that propolis and RJ can promote health by preventing the occurrence of age-related debilitating diseases. Therefore, they have been used to treat various serious disorders such as diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Some evolving studies used these bee products to treat PD in animal models. However, a clear understanding of the collective effect of propolis and RJ as well as their mechanism of action in PD is lacking. This review evaluates the available literature for the effects of propolis and RJ on PD. Whenever possible, it elaborates on the underlying mechanisms through which they function in this disorder and offers insights for fruitful use of bee products in future clinical trials.