Bee venom stimulation of a lung meridian acupoint reduces inflammation in carrageenan-induced pleurisy: an alternative therapeutic approach for respiratory inflammation
10.4142/jvs.2018.19.5.708
- Author:
Hoon Seong CHOI
1
;
Suk Yun KANG
;
Dae Hyun ROH
;
Sheu Ran CHOI
;
Yeonhee RYU
;
Jang Hern LEE
Author Information
1. Department of Veterinary Physiology, BK21 PLUS Program for Creative Veterinary Science Research, Research Institute for Veterinary Science and College of Veterinary Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea. yhryu@kiom.re.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
acupuncture;
anti-inflammation;
bee venoms;
carrageenan-induced pleurisy
- MeSH:
Acupuncture;
Acupuncture Points;
Animals;
Bee Venoms;
Bees;
Carrageenan;
Complementary Therapies;
Exudates and Transudates;
Hand;
Inflammation;
Interleukin-1beta;
Leukocytes;
Lung;
Mice;
Peroxidase;
Pleurisy;
Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha;
Veterinary Medicine
- From:Journal of Veterinary Science
2018;19(5):708-715
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Respiratory inflammation is a frequent and fatal pathologic state encountered in veterinary medicine. Although diluted bee venom (dBV) has potent anti-inflammatory effects, the clinical use of dBV is limited to several chronic inflammatory diseases. The present study was designed to propose an acupoint dBV treatment as a novel therapeutic strategy for respiratory inflammatory disease. Experimental pleurisy was induced by injection of carrageenan into the left pleural space in mouse. The dBV was injected into a specific lung meridian acupoint (LU-5) or into an arbitrary non-acupoint located near the midline of the back in mouse. The inflammatory responses were evaluated by analyzing inflammatory indicators in pleural exudate. The dBV injection into the LU-5 acupoint significantly suppressed the carrageenan-induced increase of pleural exudate volume, leukocyte accumulation, and myeloperoxidase activity. Moreover, dBV acupoint treatment effectively inhibited the production of interleukin 1 beta, but not tumor necrosis factor alpha in the pleural exudate. On the other hand, dBV treatment at non-acupoint did not inhibit the inflammatory responses in carrageenan-induced pleurisy. The present results demonstrate that dBV stimulation in the LU-5 lung meridian acupoint can produce significant anti-inflammatory effects on carrageenan-induced pleurisy suggesting that dBV acupuncture may be a promising alternative medicine therapy for respiratory inflammatory diseases.
