A Study Of Some Biological Activities of Apis mellifera mellifera Venoms And Its Usefulness in Toxicity Assays. 

¹Gould, E.G.; ²Dolab, J.A.; ³Estévez, J.; ⁴Paniagua-Solís,J.F.; ⁵Alagón,A.; ⁶de Roodt, A.R.

1 Laboratorio Gulcos S.A., Presidente Perón, Pcia. de Buenos Aires, Argentina; 2 I.N.P.B. – A.N.L.I.S. “Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán”. Av. Vélez Sarsfield 563, CP 1281, Buenos Aires, Argentina. 3 Instituto Bioclón, México DF, México. 4 Laboratorios Silanes, México DF, México. 5 Instituto de Biotecnología de la Universidad Autónoma de México, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México.

There were studied venoms of Apismellifera mellifera from different farms of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The electrophoretic patterns in SDS-PAGE and chromatographic profile in Superose 6 HR were similar in all the samples studied. The i.p. LD50 of the venoms was very close with mean values of 13.00 ± 1.56 µg/g (8.19 µg of protein) or of 4.03 ± 0.67 µg/g (2.54 µg of protein) depending the method of estimation utilized. The hemolytic activity was very close in the different samples with a mean value of DH50 3.18 ± 0.65 µg (1.15 µg of protein). The addition of EDTA inhibited the hemolytic activity 3-8 fold and the addition of phospholipids increased the hemolytic activity 6-15 folds, depending the hemolytic system used. The correlation between the hemolytic activity and the lethal potency was r² 0.74. All the venoms showed hemolytic activity and it was observed a relation between the increase of elevation of CPK and hemolytic activity and lethality of the venom. In addition it was observed a decrease in the red blood cells globular volume in mice injected with sub lethal doses of venom. The red blood cells of different animals showed different sensitivities to the hemolytic activities of the venom. The use of the techniques of direct and indirect hemolysis could be useful for the study of the toxicity of bee venoms and its neutralization by antivenoms.

Correspondence to: jpaniagu@silanes.com.mx