The Effects of Royal Jelly on the Pro-Inflammatory Innate Immunity Cytokines in Patients Infected with Hepatitis B Virus and Its Antiviral Activity

Naghib, Maryam; Kariminik, Ashraf; Arababadi, Mahammad Kazemi; Rokhbakhsh-Zamin, Farokh

doi:10.30491/jabr.2021.295464.1421

The Effects of Royal Jelly on the Pro-Inflammatory Innate Immunity Cytokines in Patients Infected with Hepatitis B Virus and Its Antiviral Activity

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Maryam Naghib ¹

Ashraf Kariminik ¹

Mahammad Kazemi Arababadi ²^{, 3}

Farokh Rokhbakhsh-Zamin ¹

¹ Department of Microbiology, Kerman Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kerman, Iran

² Immunology of Infectious Diseases Research Center, Research Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran

³ Department of Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Paramedicine, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran

10.30491/jabr.2021.295464.1421

Abstract

Introduction: Innate immunity cytokines conduct significant functions in the stimulation and induction of liver complications in Hepatitis B infected patients. It has been reported that Royal Jelly (RJ) has important roles in decreasing the pro-inflammatory cytokines in both in vitro and in vivo conditions. This project aimed to investigate the impacts of 1 month RJ administration on interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) serum levels in the Hepatitis B patients.
Materials and Methods: In this research, 30 Hepatitis B cases (patients) were entered in order to be under the treatment of RJ for 1 month. Before and after treatment with RJ, Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) copy numbers were evaluated using Real-Time PCR and IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 serum levels were evaluated using the ELISA technique.
Results: The RJ treatment significantly reduced the number of HBV-DNA copies and led to down-regulation of TNF-α and IL-6, which were not substantial. The IL-1β, TNF-α, and IL-6 serum levels were not changed after RJ treatment in both men and women.
Conclusions: Based on the findings of the present study, it seems that RJ plays anti-viral and anti-inflammatory roles in the in vivo conditions in infected patients with HBV.

Keywords

Royal jelly

IL-1β

TNF-α

IL-6

Hepatitis B