Evaluation for the Safety of Bee Venom in ICR Mice

Abstract

This study was carried out to examine the safety of a bee venom as an alternatives for antibiotics using male ICR mice. Five-week-old male mice were injected singly with a dried honey bee venom at the concentration of 0.25 mg/kg (a clinical dose) or 0.5 mg/kg intravenously through tail vein and various pathophysiological analyses were performed after 3 days. There were no significant differences in changes of body weight between saline-treated control group and the experimental groups. In the hematological analysis, none of the parameters were affected by bee venom. In blood biochemistry analysis, none of the markers were affected by administration of bee venom. Similarly, there were no significant effects on markers for liver, kidney and skeletal muscle functions in all treated-groups. No remarkable lesions were detected in these organs with macroscopic examination. Since there were no adverse effects of the bee venom in a single intravenous toxicity test for 3 days, it was concluded that bee venom could be a candidate for a safe natural antibiotics in the animal production industry.