Effect of Honey Bee Venom (Apis mellifera) on Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia in Alloxan Induced Diabetic Rabbits

Materials and Method
Twenty two Chinchilla rabbits weighting around 1.7-2.5 kg were 
obtained from “Biocombinat” animal farm based in Ulaanbaatar, 
Mongolia. Subjects were divided into three groups: the control 
(n=6), the diabetic (n=8), the bee venom treated (n=8) groups. This 
experiment continued for 14 days. 
The first group of healthy rabbits was injected with distilled water 
2 ml/ kg every other day. The rabbits form the second group was 
injected with a 5% solution of Alloxan monohydrate (Sigma Chemical 
Co., USA), a single dose at 100 mg/kg intravenously via marginal ear 
vein for 2 minutes to induce diabetes. One to two minutes later a 0.9% 
NaCl solution 7 ml/kg to body weight was injected intravenously to 
prevent nephropathy. 27.5% glucose (3.5-4 ml/kg) was administered 
subcutaneously 4 and 6 hours after injection to offset transient 
hypoglycemia developing after alloxan treatment [2,3]. Blood glucose 
level at 15 mmol/l and higher reveals the diabetic condition.
The third group which was treated with bee venom, received a bee 
sting (a sting contains 0.2-0.5 ml of bee venom) on their hind paw every 
other day after confirmation of diabetes. 
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ISSN: 2155-6156
Journal of Diabetes and Metabolism

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Citation: Khulan TS, Ambaga M, Chimedragcha CH (2015) Effect of Honey Bee Venom (Apis mellifera) on Hyperglycemia and Hyperlipidemia in 
Alloxan Induced Diabetic Rabbits. J Diabetes Metab 6: 507. doi:
10.4172/2155-6156.1000507
Page 2 of 4
Volume 6 • Issue 3 • 1000507
J Diabetes Metab
ISSN: 2155-6156 JDM, an open access journal
2.71 ± 0.24 mmol/l and continued dropping down to 2.24* ± 0.28 
mmol/l by day 14, 14.2 % lower than the diabetic group which was very 
close to the control values (P<0.05).
In Figure 5, plasma HDL levels in the control group decreased 
to 1.66 ± 0.07 mmol/l on day 1, around 3% - 6.4% lower compared 
to the control group and stayed stable throughout the experiment. 
Blood samples from all groups were collected on days 1,3,7 and14 
in a fasting state from rabbits’ marginal ear vein by 26 G needle and 
syringe [4]. Blood glucose levels, plasma cholesterol levels, triglyceride 
levels, LDL and HDL levels were determined by “Humylazer 2000” 
analyzer (Human, Germany).
The values were expressed as mean ± S.E.M, Statistical analyses 
were performed by SPSS-16one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), 
followed by post-hoc Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. P<0.05 
was considered as significant.
Results
In the diabetic group alloxan administration dramatically increased 
blood glucose level from 5.52 ± 0.18 mmol/l to 21.65 ± 2.2 mmol/l. Blood 
glucose level in this group remained 3.9 to 5.5 times higher compared 
to the control group throughout the experimental days. After inducing 
the diabetic condition, blood glucose levels in the Bee venom Treated 
(BVT) group progressively increased to 15.92 ± 1.53 mmol/l on day 1, 
and reaching its highest value at 26.38 ± 3.61 mmol/l on day 3, and then 
steadily decreasing to 25.93 ± 2.35 mmol/l and 22.00 ± 2.47 mmol/l on 
days 7 and 14. Yet compared with the diabetic group, glucose values in 
the BVT group were lower by 26.5% on day 1, and 13.3% on day 3. On 
7
th
and 14
th
days, BVT group’s glucose levels maintained 14.9 % and 
21.4% lower than the diabetic group (P< 0.05) (Figure 1).
Plasma cholesterol level in the diabetic group reached 4.92 ± 
0.51 mmol/l on the first day, 72% higher than the control group. 
Cholesterol level hit the maximum value of 5.72 ± 0.85 mmol/l on day 
3 and then steadily decreased until 4.57 ± 0.43 mmol/l by day 14. Bee 
venom treatment in diabetic rabbits lowered plasma cholesterol levels 
compared to the diabetic group by 3.5% at 4.75* ± 0.32 mmol on the 1
st
day. On the following days, cholesterol levels in the BVT group showed 
significant decrease compared with the diabetic group, between the 
second and the third groups were 11% on day 3, 8% on day 7, and 
10.9 % on day 14 (Figure 2). Cholesterol level in the BVT group was 
approaching the control group values of 3.20 ± 0.15, and reached 4.07 
± 0.50 mmol/l on day 14. 
The effect of bee venom treatment on plasma triglyceride (TG) 
content in diabetic rabbits is illustrated in Figure 3. Diabetes causes 
a significant increase in plasma triglyceride content. Levels of plasma 
triglyceride in the diabetic group on the day 1 increased to 2.59 ± 0.21 
mmol/l, 2.2 times of the control group. For the following experimental 
days, triglyceride levels in the diabetic group increase to values of 3.17 
± 0.08 mmol/l on day 3, 2.96 ± 0.25 mmol/l on day 7, and 2.78 ± 0.42 on 
day 14. Compared to the diabetic group, plasma triglyceride in the BVT 
group was considerably lower during the course of the experiment. 
Triglyceride levels in the BVT group increased to 2.24 ± 0.15 mmol/l 
on day 1, yet this value was 12.5% lower compared to the diabetic 
group. On day 3, plasma triglyceride levels reached its highest value 
of 2.73 ± 0.03 mmol/l, then gradually declined to 2.59 ± 0.04 mmol/l 
on day 7, and 2.25 ± 0.12 mmol/l on day 14, remaining from 13.9 % to 
19.1% lower than the diabetic group (P<0.05) (Figure 3). 
In Figure 4, the diabetic group shows an increase in plasma LDL 
levels to 2.97* ± 0.32 mmol/l, 42.1% higher than the control group 
(P<0.05). On days 3 and 7, LDL levels varied from 2.90 ± 0.27 mmol/l 
to 3.05 ± 0.72 mmol/l and dropped to 2.61 ± 0.53 mmol/l by day 14.
Plasma LDL levels in the BVT group were 2.69 ± 0.42 mmol/l, 9.4% 
lower than the diabetic group on day 1. By day 3 LDL levels increased 
to 3.05 ± 0.57 mmol/l and were 5.2% higher compared to the diabetic 
group. On days 7, LDL levels in the BVT group sharply decreased to