THESIS: J.M. Sforcin submitted this thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Nutrition and Animal Production publicly examined at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry, FMVZ, UNESP, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil, in August 1996.
Advisor: Professor Sílvia Regina Cunha Funari
ABSTRACT. Propolis, a beehive product widely used in folk medicine, has attracted the attention of researchers to elucidate its biological properties. Since reports dealing with propolis and the seasonal effect on its activities are not available, this study was undertaken to evaluate the influence of propolis administration to rats in relation to the non-specific immunity, considering the natural killer activity against tumoral cells. To also analyze the seric concentration of total protein, urea, creatinine, glucose, cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, tryglicerides, LDH, AST and ALT, in order to observe possible side effects. Propolis produced by africanized honeybees (Apis mellifera) over a year and pooled according to the 4 seasons was studied. Hydroalcoholic solutions of propolis were prepared with each pool and administered to rats by gavage during 3 days. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of propolis obtained each season on bacterial strains was also evaluated. The behavior of these bacterial strains was analyzed according to the incubation period in medium plus propolis, and the survival curve was plotted. Results indicated that the natural killer activity was increased in propolis-treated animals, and the lack of alterations in the seric biochemical variables is probably a reflection that propolis showed no biological side effects. It was also verified that the growth of Gram-positive bacteria is inhibited with low propolis concentration, whereas Gram-negative bacteria were less susceptible to this apitherapic, confirming propolis efficient antimicrobial action, mainly in relation to Gram-positive bacteria. There were no significant differences concerning the seasonable effect in all these biological assays.
J.M. SFORCIN - Departamento de Microbiologia e Imunologia, Instituto de Biociências, UNESP, Campus de Botucatu, CEP 18618-000, Botucatu, SP, Brasil.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
08 Jan 1999 -
Date of issue
1997
