Skin Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Appl Microbiol Biotechnol. 2019 Apr;103(8):3265-3276. doi: 10.1007/s00253-019-09698-y. Epub 2019 Mar 1.
The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, dubbed superbugs, together with relative stagnation in developing efficient antibiotics has led to enormous health and economic problems, necessitating the need for discovering and developing novel antimicrobial agents. In this respect, animal venoms represent a rich repertoire of pharmacologically active components. As a major component in the venom of European honeybee Apis mellifera, melittin has a great potential in medical applications. In this mini-review, we summarize a multitude of studies on anti-bacterial effects of melittin against planktonic and biofilm-embedded bacteria. Several investigations regarding synergistic effects between melittin and antibiotics were also described. On the whole, the properties of melittin can open up new horizons in a range of biomedical areas, from agriculture to veterinary and clinical microbiology.
抗生素耐药菌的出现，被称为超级细菌，加上开发有效抗生素的相对停滞，导致了巨大的健康和经济问题，因此需要发现和开发新型抗菌药物。在这方面，动物毒液代表了丰富的具有药理活性的成分库。作为欧洲蜜蜂 Apis mellifera 毒液的主要成分，蜂毒素在医学应用中有很大的潜力。在这个小型综述中，我们总结了大量关于蜂毒素对浮游和生物膜嵌入细菌的抗细菌作用的研究。还描述了蜂毒素与抗生素之间协同作用的一些研究。总的来说，蜂毒素的特性可以为从农业到兽医和临床微生物学等一系列生物医学领域开辟新的视野。
