Armaghane Danesh Bimonthly Journal (Feb 2014)
The Effects of Royal Jelly on In-Vitro Cytotoxicity of K562 Cells and Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells
Abstract
Abstract Background & aim: Royal jelly, secreted by worker bees, has different biological activities on cells and tissues. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of royal jelly on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and on the tumor category of K562 cell line. Methods: In the present experimental study, three subjects were selected separately with three repetitions. K562 (104 cells) and PBMC (105 cells) with different concentrations of royal jelly (5, 10, 25, 50 and 100 mg/ml) were cultured under standard conditions for 48 and 72 h separately. The fatality rate on PBMC cells and K562 cancer cells was evaluated by using MTT (Tetrazolium Dye-Reduction Assay). The number of viable cells in PBMC that were exposed for 48 hours with Royal Jelly was evaluated by trypan blue staining. Data were analyzed by ANOVA. Results: The royal jelly had no cytotoxicity effect on PBMC cells but at concentration of 50 and 100 mg/mL the cytotoxicity effect were observed on k562 cells whereas, at 10 and 25 mg/ml the number of PBMC viable cells increased. Conclusion: Due to the lack of lethality of royal jelly on PBMC cells and PBMC cell viability and an increase in the fatality rate of cancer cells in the future, royal jelly can be used as a potential candidate for treatment of leukemia. Keywords: Royal jelly, K562, peripheral blood mononuclear cell
