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Dietary Substances Not Required in Human Metabolism
Published in Luke Bucci, Nutrients as Ergogenic Aids for Sports and Exercise, 2020
In summary, effects of bee pollen on human athletic performance are ambiguous. European studies find benefits, while American studies do not. While many forms of bee pollen are available, most studies used Pollitabs from one manufacturer. Further research to reproduce European findings on weightlifters are necessary. Dosage and length of administration are two variables not fully considered. Allergic reactions are possible and have been reported with pollen preparations, with anaphylactic shock a consideration.
Recent Insights on the Role of Natural Medicines in Immunostimulation
Published in Dilip Ghosh, Pulok K. Mukherjee, Natural Medicines, 2019
Isabella Muscari, Sabrina Adorisio, Trinh Thi Thuy, Tran Van Sung, Domenico V. Delfino
Bee pollen. This is a bee product of plant origin that varies in its chemical composition depending on the flora present in various climate zones. More than 250 biologically active substances have been isolated from bee pollen. The polysaccharide fraction stimulates immunological activity by increasing the macrophage number and promoting splenocyte and NK cell proliferation. Moreover, this fraction stimulates the activation of mast cells by immunoglobulin E (IgE; Rzepecka-Stojko et al. 2015).
Bee pollen
Published in Linda M. Castell, Samantha J. Stear (Nottingham), Louise M. Burke, Nutritional Supplements in Sport, Exercise and Health, 2015
Bee pollen is a mixture collected by bees of pollen granules from the stamens of flowers and flower nectar. It is commercially available in granule, capsule or tablet preparations. These contain a wide and varying array of nutrients, including saccharides, amino acids, vitamins and minerals, as well as possible contaminants.
Antimicrobial activity of flavonoids glycosides and pyrrolizidine alkaloids from propolis of Scaptotrigona aff. postica
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2023
T. M. Cantero, P. I. Silva Junior, G. Negri, R. M. Nascimento, R. Z. Mendonça
The beekeeping products, honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, and beeswax, are vulnerable to pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) contamination, attributed to nectar and plant pollen rich in PAs collected by bees and transferred to bee products (Celano et al. 2019, Sixto et al. 2019, Wang et al. 2019, De Jesus Inacio et al. 2020, Brugnerotto et al. 2021). Bee pollen may be contaminated with PAs and their N-oxides (PANOs). Lycopsamine-type PAs/PANOs were predominant in bee pollen, while heliotrine-type PAs/PANOs were less frequent and contributed with lower contents (De Jesus Inacio et al. 2020). Echimidine, lycopsamine, and intermedine were the most abundant alkaloids detected in honey, along with lesser amounts of each of their N-oxides (Kowalczyk et al. 2018, Hungerford et al. 2019, Wang et al. 2019). Echimidine-N-oxide was the main alkaloid detected in honey and nectar samples, while echivulgarine-N-oxide was the main PA found in plant pollen, indicating that nectar contributes more significantly to PA contamination in honey than pollen collected in plant (Lucchetti et al. 2016, Kast et al. 2019, Gottschalk et al. 2020, Picron et al. 2020). Honey from stingless bees, Scaptotrigona bipunctata Lepeletier, and S. postica Latreille, exhibited in vitro antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria, including multidrug-resistant strains (Nishio et al. 2016).
Dietary inclusion of royal jelly modulates gene expression and activity of oxidative stress enzymes in zebrafish
Published in Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2021
Ercüment Aksakal, Deniz Ekinci, Claudiu T. Supuran
Bee products such as honey, bee pollen, royal jelly, propolis and bee venom have been focussed by researchers in recent years due to their nutritional properties and positive effects on health27,28.
Bee pollens originating from different species have unique effects on ovarian cell functions
Published in Pharmaceutical Biology, 2020
Alexander V. Sirotkin, Adam Tarko, Richard Alexa, Alla Fakova, Saleh Alwasel, Abdel Halim Harrath
Bee pollen is flower pollen gathered by the honeybee (Apis mellifera L., Apidae) that is then enriched with honey, nectar, and bee salivary enzymes. It contains carbohydrates, proteins, and fatty acids, along with over 250 regulatory molecules including vitamins, minerals, carotenoids, polyphenols (phenolic acids and flavonoids such as quercetin, daidzein, and leukotrienes), phytosterols, and nucleic acids (Denisow and Denisow-Pietrzyk 2016; Cornara et al. 2017; Kieliszek et al. 2018). Due to its putative antimicrobial, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-atherosclerotic, antiaging, antidepressant, anticancer, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective, and hypoglycaemic properties, bee pollen is a promising functional food (Kieliszek et al. 2018) and apitherapeutic drug (Denisow and Denisow-Pietrzyk 2016; Cornara et al. 2017). The large-scale application of bee pollens is complicated by the insufficient knowledge on their physiological effects. For example, available information regarding bee pollen’s effects on reproduction is limited to two studies with contradicting results. Feeding rapeseed bee pollen to rats promoted accumulation of pro-apoptotic (BAX, caspase-3) and anti-apoptotic (BCL-2) proteins in their ovaries, inhibited ovarian production of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), and promoted ovarian release of steroid hormones (Kolesarova et al. 2013). However, in another study, in vitro experiments failed to detect any direct impact of rapeseed pollen on proliferation (i.e., accumulation of proliferating cell nuclear antigen [PCNA]), apoptosis (i.e., accumulation of caspase-3), and progesterone release of cultured porcine ovarian granulosa cells, although it did inhibit IGF-I release (Kolesarova et al. 2011a). Therefore, whether bee pollen directly affects ovarian cell proliferation and apoptosis remains unclear. The ratio of proliferation to apoptosis defines ovarian cell viability, which in turn determines ovarian follicle fate (either atresia or ovulation) and the resulting fecundity (Craig et al. 2007; Palma et al. 2012; Monniaux et al. 2016). The action of bee pollens on ovarian cell viability has not yet been explicitly studied. There are also only a few reports (Kolesarova et al. 2011a, 2013) on the influence of bee pollen on IGF-I, which is the key hormonal promoter of cell proliferation, viability, and ovarian hormone release, the main suppressor of apoptosis, and a mediator of the effects of numerous external factors on both non-ovarian and ovarian cells (Quirk et al. 2004; Sirotkin 2011, 2014; Shimizu 2016).